Christian Schools Australia has argued it should continue to be allowed to kick out students and teachers that don't align with the "religious character" of the school, even if the teachers live so-called double lives in and out of school.
Last year Craig Campbell, a relief teacher at a Baptist school in Western Australia, had his employment terminated after students at the school found out he was in a same-sex relationship.
Christian Schools Australia, and Adventist Schools Australia, two peak bodies representing religious schools teaching around 80,000 Australian students, have argued that schools should continue to be allowed to do this, even if they receive government funding.
In a submission to the Philip Ruddock–led review on religious freedom, the two bodies say discrimination law should take into consideration competing rights, and be changed to acknowledge competing rights, and that discrimination by religious bodies is "differentiation" not "discrimination".
The groups argued that shifting the definition of discrimination would allow a school to "employ staff it determines reasonably necessary to protect its religious character", and "disengage from students and their families where this is necessary to protect the religious character of the school community".
In a 2015 report on "lawful discrimination" against LGBT South Australians, the South Australian Law Reform Institute reported that lesbian and gay teachers in religious schools in South Australia were living "double lives", in constant fear of being outed and losing their jobs.
In its submission to the Ruddock review, Christian Schools Australia pointed to this report and said that allowing teachers to live so-called double lives, where they hide their sexual orientation in the school, was not acceptable.
"From a school’s perspective, leading such a 'double life' undermines the fundamental duty of fidelity and good faith that employees owe to an employer," CSA said. "Duplicity and deceit regarding such foundational matters are not in anybody’s interests and are not sustainable."
The groups argue that legislation should be passed to "shield education funding" as part of the protections demanded in light of same-sex marriage passing into law last year. There is a push for religious organisations that discriminate against LGBT people to not receive public funding, or not be the preferred government contractor.
Labor's draft national platform up for debate at the national conference in July includes a policy to "give preference to organisations that ensure the equal and fair treatment of their LGBTIQ employees through fostering positive workplace cultures that celebrate diversity and actively prevent discrimination against LGBTIQ employees, customers, suppliers and distributors".
Former prime minister John Howard also made a submission to the Ruddock review, telling his former attorney general that the federal government should pass legislation to allow religious schools to be allowed to hire people who "support the ethos of the bodies employing them".
Howard also said that the federal government should make it a "condition of funding" for both government and non-government schools that parents should be able to take their children out of classes "on certain matters, which they might regard as incompatible with their values". Howard didn't specify if this was sex education or, say, science classes.
This was reported by Fairfax as Howard calling for defunding of schools that don't allow parents to pull children out of sex and gender classes. When asked on Tuesday about Howard's intervention, prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said that parents were able to withdraw kids from classes today.
"I'm not aware of any schools where parents can't take their kids out of sex education," he told 3AW Radio. "I think the universal practice around the country is to give parents that right, as they should have that right."
The Ruddock panel is due to hand its report to the government at the end of this month.