Australia’s Religious Discrimination Bill Could Make Life Hell for People With Disability

“If you came to church, you would be healed”, is just one of many fraught statements Mary Henley Collopy has heard while living with a significant physical disability over the last 60 years. To her, these statements, syphoned through what she refers to as a “pity lens”, give truth to a belief that others didn’t see her as “whole”, that she needed saving and that her physical disability needed to be “repaired to somehow fit the norm”. They were unsolicited and oftentimes, degrading.

So when Collopy first heard about the proposed Religious Discrimination Bill, introduced by the Morrison government last December, she was “gobsmacked.”

While the bill’s main focus has been positioned as something to ensure all Australians are protected from discrimination – no matter their religious belief – for many in Australia’s disabled community the bill tips the scales the other way. 

Many say the bill will now open the floodgates to prejudice by providing those that are religiously aligned with legal freedom to express “statements of belief” without consequence; as long as these statements are “in good faith”. It is this “in good faith” term which remains undefined within the bill. 

In a statement to VICE from the Representative Organisations of the Disability Sector, disability workers and advocates raised concerns that the bill could see these ‘statements of belief’ manifest in lines like “their disability is a punishment from God for their, or their parents, sins” or “they deserve to suffer from their disability for what they have done in a previous life.” 

The foremost concern is that the bill will override existing legal protections for those with disabilities on a Commonwealth, state and federal level. The main areas for concern include clause 12 of the bill; statement of beliefs, and clause 11, which relates to overriding existing legal protections. 

“While these existing legal protections are imperfect, people with disability use them all the time to ensure they are not discriminated against, especially in regards to employment,” Senior Policy Manager of People with Disability Australia (PWDA), Giancarlo De Vera, told VICE.

According to De Vera, the bill would see those with disability finding it harder to gain access and afford justice in circumstances of workplace discrimination. Secondly, the addition of “statements of belief” provisions would bolster negative subjective views that will put up barriers to inclusion and participation in wider society for people with disability.

“You may come across people who think [people with disability] should not get services cause you can pray away the disability, or they think they shouldn’t access disability because of the sins of their mother or their past selves,” he told VICE.

“People can act on those beliefs believing that they’re protected by legislation. What’s gonna happen when people get denied support and education and personal care and employment in schools, in healthcare?”

Despite powerful stances by Labor members against the bill leading up to its passing in the lower house, notably through MP Stephen Jones, the opposition party agreed to support the proposed Religious Discrimination Bill, setting up what looks to be a standoff in the senate – a place where the government does not have the majority.

There, the Labor Party will move to amend four main aspects of the bill, including the “statement of belief” clause, making sure that the provision “does not remove or diminish any existing protections against discrimination.”

“Labor believes all Australians have the right to live their lives free of discrimination,” Shadow Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement provided to VICE.

“Labor does not believe that people of faith want the right to discriminate against other Australians.The current version of clause 12 sends the wrong signal to people of faith and of no faith alike.

“Labor’s amendments will ensure that statements of belief will not constitute discrimination under the new Religious Discrimination Act, while also preserving – in full – all existing protections against discrimination.”

While many hold out hope that Labor's intentions stand true and that amendments can be made, the party’s resignation in the lower house leaves many cause for concern.

Hannah Diviney, writer and disability advocate, says the passing doesn’t add up.

“We all know the struggle of getting amendments made, and I just can't work out how people could be so genuinely passionate, and against it, and still vote to pass a bill,” Diviney told VICE. 

“Given the backdrop of having Dylan Alcott as the Australian of the Year, and what that potentially says about the focus that people are willing to put on issues facing the disabled community, these messages feel very contradictory and especially dangerous.

“The fact that Scott Morrison and his government have felt comfortable in submitting that bill, with those statements in there, told me everything I need to know about what decisions I should be making.”

Follow Julie Fenwick on Twitter and Instagram.

Read more from VICE Australia.