Scott Morrison is pushing new religious discrimination laws

Gavin Fernando and AAP news.com.au

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Attorney-General Christian Porter will today release the Ruddock review into religious freedom, almost seven months after the government was handed the recommendations.

The overhaul will place religious discrimination in the same category as racial or gender-based discrimination, and will include a “freedom of religion” commissioner to sit within the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Mr Morrison said it was an “essential part” of a diverse society.

“Australia is a secular democracy but that does not mean that Australians are a godless people,” he told The Australian. “Australians have a diversity of faith and ­religious backgrounds and these should all be respected.

“This is an essential part of multiculturalism, in the same way no Australian should be discriminated against for their ethnicity or sexuality. Protecting freedom of belief is central to the liberty of each and every Australian.”

It's understood the government will ask the Australian Law Reform Commission to review five of the most controversial questions raised in the report — including how to balance the rights of LGBT students with that off religious schools.

A Religious Discrimination Act is one of the central recommendations from former Liberal minister Phillip Ruddock’s long-awaited review into religious freedoms, due to be released today.

Labor are open to the legislation in-principle, but want to see the detail before committing to backing it.

Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie said there already were laws preventing discrimination on the basis of age and gender, arguing Australia’s multicultural faiths should be protected.

“Discrimination in any form in this country is an anathema to how we view ourselves as Australians and the fair-go ethos that our entire nation has been built on,” Senator McKenzie told ABC radio today.

She admitted she had not felt her Christian faith personally threatened but pointed to reports of people losing their jobs for religious stances as evidence new laws are required.

Labor frontbencher Mark Butler accused Mr Morrison and his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull of sitting on the report, which was commissioned during last year’s same-sex marriage postal survey.

“We could have been debating over the course of 2018 the recommendations, but instead we’ve got the review dropped out on the eve of Christmas in the shadow of a federal election,” Mr Butler said.

The coalition and Labor were unable to agree on legislation to protect gay students from discrimination by religious schools in the year’s final week of parliament.

The government will refer this to the Australian Law Reform Commission for review after a leak from Mr Ruddock’s report inflamed the issue in October. Mr Butler called for faster action, saying under usual arrangements an ALRC review would take up to 12 months.

“Students face the prospect of at least another full school year open to discrimination in religious schools,” he said.