Everyone deserves to work, study and access the services they need with dignity, no matter who they are or whom they love.
The South Australian Government has proposed positive changes to SA’s anti-discrimination laws to make it unlawful for faith-based organisations to discriminate against certain LGBTIQ+ employees, students and people who access their services. The Equal Opportunity (Religious Bodies) Amendment Bill 2020 proposes to:
- Clarify that LGBTIQ+ students cannot be discriminated against in preschool, primary and secondary education.
- Limit the ability for faith-based organisations to discriminate against LGBTIQ+ people in connection with foster care, children’s residential, health, disability support, aged care, and emergency accommodation services.
These proposed reforms are a great step forward, but they don’t protect all LGBTIQ+ people from discrimination wherever they may work, study or access services. For example, they don’t protect LGBTIQ+ students in tertiary education, or LGBTIQ+ people accessing financial, legal support or food relief from faith-based organisations. They also leave LGBTIQ+ teachers vulnerable to discrimination. We congratulate the South Australian Government on this important step forward. We now need to support them to protect everyone.
The Bill must ensure all LGBTIQ+ people are free from discrimination no matter where they work, study or access services.
The SA government are welcoming submissions on the Bill, inviting you to give feedback on what our anti-discrimination laws should look like. This letter writing tool will ensure your feedback gets to the right people.
Your letter will be more effective if you personalise it. You can use our letter to get you started, but we recommend that you use your own words and change the subject line.
Our top tips to writing a great letter are:
- Give personal reasons to explain why this issue is important to you.
- Talk about what the proposed changes will mean for you and your loved ones.
- Always be polite.