Over the summer, the federal government released an amended draft of its proposed Religious Discrimination Bill, designed to satisfy the bill’s many critics. This effort has failed. All Australians – whether they practise a religion, are "lapsed" or belong to the quickly swelling ranks of those declaring "no religion" – could be worse off on grounds of religious belief if this bill goes through.

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This is not a bill that protects Australians from discrimination on religious grounds. Instead, it actively facilitates intolerance and will work to divide rather than unite Australians. Currently Australians enjoy a great deal of freedom when it comes to religious belief – both the freedom to practise their religion, and freedom from the imposition of religious practices they do not share.

Anti-discrimination laws at a state and federal level protect people from discrimination based on their ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability or age. They also strike a balance in protecting the rights of religious institutions to run their operations in accordance with their beliefs, and to allow existing discriminations to be addressed. Alongside these laws, health and safety laws protect people from bullying in the workplace, which can often be the result of personal prejudice but expressed in racial or religious terms.

The proposed religious discrimination law would override all these existing state and federal laws. It would strip Australians of many of the rights they currently enjoy and put the clock backwards.