‘No place for gay teacher prejudice’
LABOR wants laws protecting gay students from being excluded by religious schools extended to teachers and staff, and has found an unlikely ally in the Liberal Party’s candidate for the Wentworth by-election.
The federal parliament will this week remove the power of faith-based schools to discriminate against children on the basis of their sexuality.
Labor leader Bill Shorten wants to extend this further by scrapping the ability of religious schools to hire and fire staff based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or relationship status.
“In my discussions with religious educators, it’s clear this is not an exemption that they use or want to use,” Mr Shorten said yesterday.
“These laws are no longer appropriate, if indeed they ever were appropriate.
“It’s time our laws reflected the values we teach our children.”
Liberal Party candidate for Wentworth Dave Sharma supports the idea. Mr Sharma said schools should “absolutely not” have the legislative right to discriminate against teachers.
“I believe that right should be removed to the extent it exists in laws passed in 2013 by the previous Labor government,” he told a pre-election debate in Sydney.
“I am fundamentally opposed to discrimination in schools for pupils or for teachers on the basis of sexual orientation, gender or anything else for that matter.”
Education Minister Dan Tehan expects laws protecting gay students from discrimination will pass within days. However, he would not say whether the same support would be extended to teachers.