Detailed and genuine concerns expressed by faith leaders, and supported by Christian schools, have been dismissed by the Premier and Queensland Government according to reports in the media today.
The letter to the Premier earlier this month, supported by Christian school leaders, expressed concerns about the restriction of fundamental human rights by the draft Anti-Discrimination Bill 2024. The proposals fly in the face of strong community support for Christian and other religious schools employing staff who share their beliefs and parental choice in education.
The independent polling, conducted last month, showed that over 80% of Queenslanders support the right of a religious school to employ teachers and other staff who support the clearly stated values and beliefs of the school. A similar percentage of Queenslanders believe that Australian laws should protect the right to hold and practice religious beliefs. This figure has been increasing since 2019.
The polling also showed that:
- About 90% of parents sending their children to faith-based schools in Queensland and nearly 80% of all Queenslanders support the right of a religious school to enforce standards of uniform and behaviour consistent with their values and beliefs
- Over 75% of parents sending their children to faith-based schools in QLD support the right of a religious school to be able to teach students their values and beliefs about gender, sexuality and marriage, with this supported by a majority of all QLD voters.
