Overhauling anti-discrimination laws to prevent religious schools from firing gay teachers could open Islamic schools up to a range of unfair dismissal claims, the peak body representing Islamic schools in Australia has warned.

Appearing before an urgent Senate inquiry yesterday, the Islamic Schools Association of Australia said none of its schools would accept a teacher telling a class that same-sex marriage was equivalent to marriage between a man and a woman because it was in direct contravention to their teachings.

“With the changing legislation, and the changing environment, there is a concern that the schools will be placed in a situation where they will not be able to faithfully teach because they could potentially be the subject of unfair dismissal claims and other penalties,” a spokesman told Parliament’s legal and constitutional affairs committee.

“The position of the association is that without the current provisions, the exemptions, they would not be able to hold staff to that level of accountability, to adhere to the school’s values and ethos.”

Attorney-General Christian Porter is expected to introduce legislation to Federal Parliament before the end of the year to remove religious schools’ right to expel LGBTI students.

But a Labor plan to end discrimination against teachers by stripping faith-based schools of the right to sack gay teachers has proved more controversial, with some religious educators concerned it will impede their ability to uphold the values and principles of their institutions.

The Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, told the hearing that having gay teachers in the church’s schools could be more acceptable if they lived far away from school grounds and their relationships were less visible.

He said schools did not care whether staff identified as gay, lesbian or transgender but were concerned about “the public nature of what someone might say or do in that regard”.

“Problems arose when it became an act of advocacy,” Archbishop Comensoli said.

“It’s not just a matter of one’s attribute - it’s what one does with it that makes a difference.”

Christian Schools Australia executive officer Mark Spencer argued teachers needed to uphold a school’s values “completely and authentically”, including in their private lives.

“We are looking for staff to actually have that consistency across the whole of their live, around what they believe, what they say they believe and how they act and behave,” he said.