Sign the Open Letter calling for Religious Freedom First

The sustained assault on religious freedom in Australia shows no signs of stopping.

And while the Federal government stalls on its promises to protect religious freedom, the latest proposal from the Australian Human Rights Commission to design a new Human Rights Act for Australia looks like it will be detrimental to your religious rights.

A closer look at what’s being proposed makes it clear that if the AHRC-defined rights are brought into law in Australia, this will permanently disadvantage religious freedom. Australians will have less protection for religious freedom than they are entitled to under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, while competing rights would be enhanced. Religious freedom would be severely and irreversibly compromised.

It’s time for the government to take decisive action to protect religious freedom and enact religious freedom laws.

Tell the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader that you want action by signing this open letter, demanding that Australia protect religious freedom first, before considering any Human Rights Act for the country.

To Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

We urge you to legislate to protect religious freedom in Australian law, as a matter of priority, to ensure that the rights of people to express their faith in public is protected by our legal system.

This must happen before any plans to legislate a Human Rights Act for Australia, as signalled recently by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

The proposed Human Rights Act weakens the robust protections provided in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Australia is a signatory. 

These changes, if they became law, would negatively impact people of faith in this country. 

In view of the above, I implore you to uphold religious freedom in our great nation, safeguarding the rights of all Australians, irrespective of their faith, by passing a Religious Freedom Act first, to guarantee the rights of religious freedom in Australia, before any consideration of a Human Rights Act.

5,104 signatures

Will you sign?