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AUSTRALIA

Freedom of conscience and same-sex marriage
- Jack Maxwell
- 23 January 2017
25 Comments
Two issues can be dealt with shortly. First, ministers of religion must be free to solemnise marriages in accordance with their beliefs. Second, there is no basis for extending a similar concession to marriage celebrants. The case of commercial service providers is more complex. Many argue that caterers, florists, reception centres and so on should be free to refuse to participate in same-sex weddings, on the basis of their religious beliefs. The case for the commercial exemption is unconvincing.
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RELIGION

Lessons from Christian camp's gay discrimination
- Andrew McGowan
- 01 May 2014
29 Comments
In April the Victorian Court of Appeal upheld an earlier ruling that a youth camp run by the Christian Brethren had discriminated illegally against same-sex attracted persons by refusing a booking from a community health service for an event for young gay and lesbian people. This is not an isolated case. It is sobering that churches often seem to need the courts to give them lessons, if not about sex, then about hospitality and fairness.
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RELIGION

Christian social thinking for Australia
- Frank Brennan
- 08 November 2013
1 Comment
'Many Catholics wonder how we can maintain our Christian faith at this time in the wake of the sexual abuse crisis and the many judgmental utterances about sexuality and reproduction. The Church that has spoken longest and loudest about sex in all its modalities seems to be one of the social institutions most needing to get its own house in order.' Frank Brennan's address to the Yarra Institute for Religion and Social Policy, 8 November 2013.
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AUSTRALIA

How to fix anti discrimination law
- Moira Rayner
- 25 January 2013
21 Comments
Anti-discrimination acts are meant to protect vulnerable people, not corporations or dominant ideologies. The employers I represent reap the benefits of understanding that diversity and inclusion are brilliant for business and productivity. The Government's new human rights consolidation bill has missed simple opportunities for real improvement.
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RELIGION

Religious freedom and the law
- Frank Brennan
- 18 September 2012
'The common law leaves a gap between the mandates of the law and the conduct that we choose to engage in according to our individual moral standards. We call that gap 'freedom'. The challenge is determining the width of that gap for groups bound by religious faith which differs from the Australian majority.' Frank Brennan launches Carolyn Evans' Legal Protection of Religious Freedom in Australia. Full text
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AUSTRALIA

The end of equal opportunity in Victoria
- Moira Rayner
- 28 June 2012
16 Comments
In 1978, airline boss Reg Ansett didn’t fancy employing the best qualified pilot because the pilot was a woman. She took him on through the Victorian Equal Opportunity Board and ultimately won. Victoria was a leader in human rights in those days. Sadly the current Attorney General is no defender of the rights of the weak and has gutted the Equal Opportunity Commission.
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EDUCATION

Teaching students to fend for themselves
- Dilan Thampapillai
- 24 May 2012
12 Comments
The lawsuit launched by a student against her former high school for failing to get her into her preferred university reveals how far we have drifted from notions of student responsibility. Teachers do need to be supportive, but they are not the single most important determinant in student outcomes.
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RELIGION

Christian sect's gay snub
- Andrew McGowan
- 16 July 2010
17 Comments
Gay and lesbian youths are at greater risk from suicide and mental illness, and from religious and other forms of exclusion than from their own sexuality. Jesus cared less about the risk he might 'promote' Samaritanism than about the need to promote an ethic of unconditional acceptance.
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Keywords: Vcat