Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, I present the committee's interim report entitled Legal foundations of religious freedom in Australia.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—It's my pleasure, as chairman of the Human Rights Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, to present the committee's interim report of the inquiry into the status of the human right to freedom of religion or belief. The freedom of religion or belief is one of the fundamental human rights recognised in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Despite this, research indicates that the number of countries with high levels of governmental and social religious restrictions has grown. The US Department of State's religious freedom report for 2016 points to a number of countries in the Middle East where governments place restrictions on religious freedom, while in Europe societal restrictions on religious freedom have increased, in part due to Europe's ongoing migrant crisis. Religious conflict is also increasing in Burma and other South-East Asian countries, and in Nigeria and throughout Africa, while severe restrictions on religious practice and other human rights continue in North Korea.

Australia is fortunate to be not only one of the freest societies in the world but also one of the most culturally, ethnically and religiously diverse. Australia's record is not perfect, and, like any nation, it has sometimes failed to live up to the high standards of human rights and freedoms that we've come to expect in the Western world. Nevertheless, most Australians enjoy a high degree of freedom and quality of life. The right to freedom of religion, thought, conscience or belief is one of the pillars of liberty. Many Australians are descended from people who fled persecution for their faith and found freedom here, including Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews and Buddhists. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians also continue to practise their Indigenous faith traditions, while people with no religious adherence, including atheists, live free from coercion or persecution by religious authorities.

We should, however, be careful not to take our strong record of religious freedom for granted. The last committee report into religious freedom was tabled 17 years ago. Since then, events in Australia and abroad have heightened Australian society's awareness of religious issues and impacted how many Australians perceive religious differences. The subcommittee's inquiry is looking into the status of freedom of religion around the world, including here in Australia. The subcommittee decided to first review and report on the current legal framework of the protection of religious freedom in Australia, prior to considering other aspects of the terms of reference and the status of the freedom elsewhere in the world. To that end, without seeking to make any recommendations at this early stage of the inquiry, the interim report reviews Australian law on the freedom of religion or belief. It considers laws protecting religious freedom at the Commonwealth level, which include the Constitution, federal antidiscrimination laws and the common law. The interim report also canvasses the laws in the states and the territories. It identifies the strengths and weaknesses of Australia's legal framework for protecting religious freedom.

One of the weaknesses identified by a large number of submitters and witnesses is the fact that there is almost no explicit protection for religious freedom at the Commonwealth level. While the common law has respected religious freedom to a large extent, the Commonwealth legislative framework is vulnerable. Unlike similar countries, including New Zealand, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, Australia is the only modern Western democracy which lacks a codified bill or charter of rights. Our Constitution offers only narrow protection, which prevents the Commonwealth government from restricting religious practice, to some extent. It does not provide a positive protection of the right, nor does it prevent the states or territories from restricting religion. Apart from the Fair Work Act, no federal legislation explicitly prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion.

Without expressing a preferred view, the interim report goes on to canvass a range of options suggested by submitters and witnesses on how to strengthen religious protection in Australia, including ways to implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights into Australian law. Suggestions include a bill or charter of rights, a religious freedom act, or an expansion of the current antidiscrimination laws. These options will be considered in further detail as the subcommittee continues with the inquiry.

The interim report also discusses the tension that exists between freedom of religion or belief and other rights, particularly the right to nondiscrimination. The subcommittee recognises that present threats to religious freedom in Australia do not arise from the typical restrictions experienced throughout history, such as the dominance of one religion over others or the state sanctioning an official religion. Rather, they are more subtle and often arise in the context of protecting other conflicting rights. This is most apparent in relation to non-discrimination laws and in decreasing thresholds for when religious freedom may be limited. Many submissions were concerned that while religious exemptions within non-discrimination laws provide some protection, these laws in fact place religious freedom in a vulnerable position with respect to the right to nondiscrimination and do not acknowledge the fundamental position that freedom of religion has in international human rights law.

The importance of this inquiry to Australian society is signified by the nearly 700 submissions received to date. The subcommittee has also held three public hearings, which were attended by legal and constitutional academics, human rights groups and government agencies. The evidence provided by the submitters and witnesses was thorough and proved invaluable to the production of the interim report. On behalf of the subcommittee, I would like to thank all of the submitters and witnesses who so far have contributed to the inquiry.

The subcommittee believes that in setting out the issues in relation to Australia's legal framework, the interim report will serve as a foundational document for the subcommittee's continuing work on the inquiry. Given the topicality at the present time of religious freedom in relation to another subject, it may be of considerable interest and use to members in their reflections. The report will also provide a strong base from which the subcommittee can consider how other countries around the world protect the right of freedom of religion.

In concluding, can I thank the secretariat, in particular, for their work on this interim report, in particular Sonya Fladun, the inquiry secretary; Daniel Simon, the research officer; and Rorisang Moyo, the legal adviser, who was seconded from DFAT for the purposes of working on this inquiry. I thank all of them for their considerable work, which is evidenced in the report which has been produced and tabled. I therefore commend the interim report to the House.

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