Report June 2016 South Australian Law Reform Institute ‘Lawful Discrimination’: Exceptions under the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (SA) to unlawful discrimination on the grounds of gender identity, sexual orientation and intersex status The South Australian Law Reform Institute was established in December 2010 by agreement between the Attorney-General of South Australia, the University of Adelaide and the Law Society of South Australia. It is based at the University of Adelaide Law School. Postal address: SA Law Reform Institute Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5005 Contact details: Ph: (08) 8313 5582 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.law.adelaide.edu.au/research/law-reform-institute/ Publications All SALRI publications, including this one, are available to download free of charge from the Institute’s webpage. The cover illustration is from https://www.flickr.com/photos/gnackgnackgnack/35305 05294/ and is distributed under Creative Commons Licence CC-BY NC 2.0. Contents Participants .......................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................................ 5 Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................................... 7 Summary of Recommendations ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Part 1 : Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 15 1.1 Background .............................................................................................................................................................. 15 1.2 The Audit Report .................................................................................................................................................... 16 1.3 Consultation Process .............................................................................................................................................. 17 Consultation prior to the Audit Report ............................................................................................................ 17 Issues Paper ........................................................................................................................................................... 18 The YourSAy Consultation Process .................................................................................................................. 19 1.4 Some Notes on Terminology ................................................................................................................................ 20 1.5 Ensuring Consistency Between South Australian and Commonwealth Protections Against Discrimination .......................................................................................................................................................... 21 Recommendation 1: Ensure South Australian protections are consistent with Commonwealth regime .......... 22 Part 2 : Balancing Rights and SALRI’s Terms of Reference .............................................................. 23 2.1 Human Rights Considerations .............................................................................................................................. 23 Part 3 : Existing South Australian Equal Opportunity Laws .............................................................. 33 3.1 Legal Framework in South Australia .................................................................................................................... 33 Part 4 : Australian Anti-Discrimination Frameworks ......................................................................... 37 4.1 Overview of Australian Anti-Discrimination Frameworks .............................................................................. 37 4.2 Religious Bodies ....................................................................................................................................................... 37 Employment in Religious Schools ..................................................................................................................... 38 Students at Religious Schools ............................................................................................................................. 41 General Exceptions .............................................................................................................................................. 41 Ordaining and Membership ................................................................................................................................ 43 4.3 Sport .......................................................................................................................................................................... 43 4.4 Health Care ............................................................................................................................................................... 44 4.5 Clubs and Associations ........................................................................................................................................... 45 4.6 Measures Intended to Achieve Equality .............................................................................................................. 45 Part 5 : Evaluation of Reform Options ................................................................................................ 46 5.1 Overview of Feedback Received........................................................................................................................... 46 5.2 Overview of Reform Options ............................................................................................................................... 47 Option A: No Reform ......................................................................................................................................... 47 Option B: Modify Certain Exceptions .............................................................................................................. 50 Option C: General Limitations Clause .............................................................................................................. 51 Option D: Exceptions by Application Only .................................................................................................... 54 5.3 SALRI’s Preferred Reform Option ...................................................................................................................... 56 Part 6 : Evaluation of Reform Options for Particular Exceptions ...................................................... 57 6.1 Religious Organisations .......................................................................................................................................... 57 Nature of the Existing Exceptions .................................................................................................................... 57 Rationale Behind the Religious Organisations Exceptions............................................................................ 58 Support for Continued Unchanged Religious Organisation Exceptions .................................................... 60 3 Alternative Approach: A Positive Affirmation of Freedom of Belief, Conscience, Speech and Religion .................................................................................................................................................................. 67 Concerns with the Scope of the Existing Exceptions for Religious Organisations .................................. 69 Reform Options .................................................................................................................................................... 80 SALRI’s View ........................................................................................................................................................ 83 Recommendation 2: Clarify that exceptions relating to religious bodies do not extend to provision of public services including health and education............................................................................................................ 87 Recommendation 3: Replace religious educational authorities exception with one based on religious belief .. 88 6.2 Sport .......................................................................................................................................................................... 88 Nature of the Existing Exceptions .................................................................................................................... 88 Rationale Behind the Sports Related Exceptions ............................................................................................ 89 Concerns with the Scope of the Existing Exceptions for Sports Clubs ...................................................... 89 Reform Options ...................................................................................................................................................