The government will rework its religious freedom laws in 2020 after hundreds of submissions are made to a draft bill

Faith-based service providers and equality advocates have welcomed a government decision to delay new religious discrimination laws, saying the legislation has “overreached” its initial intention.

On Saturday, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced the government needed more time to get the laws right, promising to release a revised draft of the Religious Discrimination Act before the end the year to take into account issues that have been raised during the consultation process.

Religious groups have slammed the proposed laws as not doing enough to protect religious freedoms, while the former high court justice, Michael Kirby, has warned that the “unbalanced” law will see a rise in both religious intolerance and anti-religious hostility.

Human rights and LGBTI groups, employer bodies and state anti-discrimination commissions are also all opposed to the bill that the attorney general, Christian Porter, released in August.

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Quinn Pawson, the chief executive of Vincent Care Victoria, said the group was among many faith-based service providers that was pleased the government had delayed the introduction of the bill.

“We hope they use this time to listen to the wide range of people from many faiths and beyond who have genuine concerns that legislation in its current form only represents a small proportion of Australians,” Pawson said.

“We ask the government to listen and draft a religious discrimination legislation that is consistent with all other anti-discrimination law by protecting people of faith, not giving them permission to discriminate.”

The view was backed by Anglicare Victoria and Uniting Vic.Tas, with both organisations raising concerns about the bill in its previously proposed form.

“Anglicare supports the idea behind the bill – to prohibit discrimination on the basis of belief, or non-belief,” the chief executive of Anglicare, Paul McDonald, said.

“But we cannot support a law that creates one model of protection for people of faith and a lesser model of protection for all other Australians.”



Bronwyn Pike from Uniting Vic.Tas said that the group supported the right to freedom from discrimination, “but not at the expense of existing protections”.

“In drafting this bill, we need to think carefully about how it will affect all communities. That includes in rural and regional areas, where minorities can feel particularly isolated and vulnerable,” Pike said.

Anna Brown, the chief executive of Equality Australia, said that without revision the religious discrimination bill would “try to divide our communities”.

“We welcome faith organisations joining us to call for balanced and equal laws that protect from discrimination without winding back existing rights for LGBTIQ people and others.”

Morrison has said the government will issue a revised draft of the Religious Discrimination Act before the end the year to take into account issues that have been raised during the consultation process.

“We’re about listening and getting this right,” Morrison said in a statement on Saturday.

“Our government takes the issue of discrimination against Australians for their religious beliefs very seriously.

“We made a commitment to Australians to address this issue at the last election and we are keeping faith with that commitment in a calm and considered process.”

While Porter said in October the laws were expected to be introduced and debate to kick off before Christmas, Morrison said on Saturday the delay would provide the opportunity to “fine tune” the bill before it’s introduced in 2020.

The Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells – who has raised concerns about the laws – welcomed the bill’s delay.

Speaking at a forum on religious freedom hosted by Christian lobby group Australian Christian Alliance in western Sydney on Saturday, the senator said there were “genuine and legitimate concerns that have been raised”.

“I have and have had real concerns in relation to the first bill and I am hopeful that with further consultation and engagement that we can deal with those issues,” Fierravanti-Wells told those gathered at the forum in Fairfield Heights.

Ultimately, however, what is important to concerned Australians is not what politicians decide, but what their religious leaders say, she said.

“If they say to you that they are confident that your religious freedoms have been protected, that is who you will listen to,” Fierravanti-Wells said.

“Unless that happens people in Australia will not feel assured.”

It comes as Nine newspapers on Saturday reported that religious leaders were threatening to withdraw support from the bill unless greater freedoms were granted to Australians of faith.

In a draft letter obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald, a coalition of religious groups says: “We take the view that it would be better to have no Religious Discrimination Act rather than a flawed one.”

On Saturday, the Sydney Anglican archbishop, Glenn Davies, welcomed the delay as the “wisest course of action”.

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“I commend @ScottMorrisonMP for his careful and consultative approach,” Davies posted on Twitter on Saturday.

“We are confident the government understands the concerns of faith groups and that a delay will ensure Australians get a better bill.”

As the prime minister was releasing his statement, the Labor frontbencher, Kristina Keneally, was addressing journalists in Sydney.

“This draft exposure bill seems quite friendless. I have yet to see any wholehearted or enthusiastic support coming from either religious organisations, equality groups or the business community,” Keneally said.

“It would suggest that the Morrison Government has some significant problems in relation to delivering on their commitment to deliver a religious discrimination bill before the end of the year.”

Parliament sits this week for the final time this year.