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On Tuesday, Federal Education Minister, Dan Tehan, said new laws protecting LGBTIQ students from being turned away by religious schools could be tabled in parliament before the end of the week.
The move follows public furor over a leaked recommendation from the Ruddock review which suggested that laws allowing religious schools to refuse gay students and teachers be made consistent across Australia.
A Fairfax-Ipsos survey released on Sunday night found that 74% of all eligible voters reject any laws that would allow schools to discriminate based on a student or teacher’s sexuality, relationship status or gender.
Tehan said protecting students from discrimination was a top priority for the Federal Government.
“We want to deal with the issue of students ... I expect that something will be done over the coming days on that,” Tehan told Sky News, but refused to confirm whether there would be legislation protecting gay teachers from discrimination.
“That's obviously something we want to look at as part of the broader Ruddock review,” Tehan said.
However, Labor leader, Bill Shorten, told AAP he wants to scrap the ability of religious schools to hire and fire staff based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or relationship status.
“These laws are no longer appropriate, if indeed they ever were appropriate. It's time our laws reflected the values we teach our children,” Shorten said.
This week, Catholic Schools NSW (CSNSW) – which represents the state’s 595 Catholic schools and their 255,000 students – said that while it opposes banning gay students, the issues as they relate to staff “are more complex and require careful consideration of all legal and employment-related matters”.
“We are willing to participate in a discussion on the future of anti-discrimination laws as they relate to employees of faith-based bodies in the context of a full and proper response to the Ruddock Review,” CSNSW CEO, Dallas McInerney, said.
On Monday, outspoken crossbench senator, Derryn Hinch, presented a motion to strip funding from private schools that exclude gay teachers and students.
However, the move to suspend the normal business of the Senate to vote on the motion was voted down 31-30.