School leaders would have woken up this morning to the announcement that the Commonwealth Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, has provided the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) an extension on the reporting deadline for their Inquiry on Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws.
The report, which was initially due on 21 April 2023, will now be delivered to the Attorney General by 31 December 2023.
Do not underestimate what a massive win this decision is.
It provides a clear vindication of our decision to withdraw from the consultation process as we had lost faith that it could provide any reasonable outcome given the radical proposals in the initial Consultation Paper and the totally inadequate timeline. The ALRC has itself indicated it requested an extension in February after it had received:
- 428 formal submissions in response to its Consultation Paper; and
- over 41,000 responses to an online survey about experiences of religious educational institutions and discrimination.
The decision is also a testimony to the impact of your work, and the work of your school communities, and other groups who have made concerns known to the Government. We know that the Government has heard from many backbenchers of concerns within their communities.
The decision is, however, not all good news.
As we indicated in out Media Release last night, attached, the delay in this process also jeopardises the introduction this term of a Religious Discrimination Bill also promised by the Albanese Government. There is a strong sense of déjà vu as once again the resolution of these issues is delayed.
Thank you for all you have done in contacting MPs and Senators, but we need to continue harder than ever.
If we want to see properly balanced protections for religious freedom, and protections against discrimination for people of faith we need to keep making MPs and Senators aware of our concerns.