Religious Discrimination Bill: Healthcare fact sheet

Want to know more about the impact the proposed religious discrimination Bill will have on access to healthcare? We've done the hard work, so you don't have to.

All Australians deserve access to quality healthcare regardless of where they live, who they are or whom they love. The proposed religious discrimination bill prioritises the personal religious views of health professionals over the needs of their patients.  

The Religious Discrimination Bill strengthens the ability for doctors, nurses, midwives and pharmacists to refuse treatment to patients on religious grounds, and protects certain religious statements made by health providers which are discriminatory. 

Patient care must always come first in our healthcare system. No individual belief trumps the right of a patient to receive appropriate treatment, or even treatment at all. 

This Bill could affect women trying to get the Pill and people seeking access to sexual health, reproductive or family planning services. It rolls back discrimination laws which protect LGBTIQ+ people, women, people with disability and others from discriminatory statements by health workers.