The Position of Religious Schools Under International Human Rights Law

Abstract

This article considers the application of international human rights law to the employment of persons by Australian religious schools. In particular, it considers the claim, increasingly made in support of Australian domestic legislative reform, that the application of ‘inherent requirements’ tests to employees within religious schools appropriately gives effect to the requirements of international law. Part One observes that that law is found in two primary protections: the protection provided to religious schools as the collective manifestations of the religious beliefs of individuals, including parents and guardians, and the protection against discrimination. Part Two illustrates the domestic implications of these regimes by considering the human rights rationales offered by the governmental proponents of the Victorian Equal Opportunity (Religious Exceptions) Amendment Bill 2021. It concludes that the Equal Opportunity (Religious Exceptions) Amendment Act 2021(Vic) is an inadequate implementation of relevant international human rights law and that similar legislation in development in other States and the Commonwealth should be scrutinised carefully.

Keywords

• religious schools
• international human rights
• discrimination
• religious freedom
• freedom of association