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Scott Morrison has promised amendments to the discrimination legislation to make it clear that no student from a private or religious school should be expelled because of his sexuality.
In a statement following Labor's offer of bipartisan support to correct the law, Morrison revealed that Attorney General Christian Porter would draft amendments to remove religious exemptions in a matter of weeks.
At the same time, the Greens sought to take advantage of the community's reaction against the right to discriminate religious schools by calling on key party leaders to legislate to protect homosexual teachers and other religious school personnel.
Morrison asserted that Ruddock's recommendations on freedom of religion – which provided for a number of safeguards prior to the expulsion of children – had been falsely reported, creating "unnecessary confusion and anxiety for parents and children." students".
"Our government does not support the expulsion of students from non-public religious schools on the basis of their sexuality," he said. "I also know that this vision is widely shared by religious schools and communities across the country."
Morrison said Parliament could address the issue in "the next fortnight", promising legislation that "will give all students and all parents the certainty they need."
It is not clear whether the new federal law will override the laws of the majority of states that allow religious schools to discriminate, including in New South Wales and Victoria, but by prohibiting conduct at the federal level, it might be possible to protect LGBT students without law. changes.
On Thursday, Morrison reversed his position to express his principled opposition to discrimination against students on the basis of sexuality.
Shorten wrote to Morrison on Friday proposing to help remove exemptions allowing religious schools to discriminate against children on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Bill Shorten
(@billshortenmp)As a father, I try to teach my children to treat everyone with respect. I wrote to the Prime Minister to help him abolish the existing laws that allow discrimination against children because of their identity. That's what we have to do. pic.twitter.com/kleuyzkiV2
He said the Labor Party "stood ready" for a new discussion on the recommendations of the Ruddock Review, but that the Australian people could not come to a conclusion before the report was released.
The Labor Party offer does not prevent its MPs from voting for the Greens Bill to abolish all religious exemptions and the party has previously said it has "no plans" to change the law to prevent the return of gay teachers.
The debate was triggered Wednesday by the escape of the recommendations of the Ruddock review on religious freedom, including the amendment of the Federal Sex Discrimination Act, to provide "that religious schools may discriminate against children." with regard to pupils on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or the status of their relationship ".
The report included several safeguards, including requiring schools to prove that discrimination is based on religious precepts, ensuring that any discriminatory policy is made public and taking into account the best interests of the school. child as a primary consideration.
Di Natale wrote to the two leaders on Friday in similar terms, welcoming their opposing comments "to any school, religious or not, discriminating against students for belonging to the LGBTIQ + community".
"It's a pleasure to see you finally show leadership in this area and use your voice to protect vulnerable young Australians from discrimination and victimization," Di Natale wrote to Morrison.
"But I also ask you to use your position in Parliament to make this protection a reality in law, for students as well as for religious school teachers."
Di Natale said the Greens would introduce a private member's bill this week when parliament resumes on Monday, calling on both the Coalition and the Labor Party to "stand with the Greens against discrimination".
Di Natale told Guardian Australia that he was "not good enough for Bill Shorten and the Labor Party to abandon LGBTIQ teachers ".
"In fact, if they really wanted to see this as a political issue, they would work with us to pass our legislation, which is already drafted and makes schools across Australia safer for LGBTIQ people of all ages. ages. "
Rodney Croome, spokesman for the LGBT lobby group, Just Equal, said since the release of the Ruddock report "that political leaders have denounced discrimination against LGBTI children in religious schools", but that the discrimination against teachers, administrative staff and LGBT parents was less taken into account.
"Teachers should be employed on the basis of their skills, not their sexuality, so that students can receive the best possible education," he said.
"We call on Scott Morrison, Bill Shorten … to condemn the discrimination against hard-working teachers and to repeal the laws allowing this discrimination."
In 2017, Craig Campbell, a teacher in Perth, was fired from his job at a Baptist College after learning that he was gay.
In May, a YouGov Galaxy survey, conducted for Just Equal, revealed that 82% of respondents objected to waivers of the discrimination law allowing the expulsion of gay and lesbian students and women. % of schools' ability to fire teachers if they married a person of the same sex.
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