A plan to amend the Sex Discrimination Act to ensure schools can't expel students and teachers for their sexual orientation won't extend to protecting transgender students from expulsion, one of the government's most senior ministers says.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has committed to striking down laws that allow schools to exclude staff and students on the basis of their sexuality, gender, relationship status or pregnancy, to protect students from expulsion.
But Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the short amount of time left before the upcoming election means the government intends only to partially strike out the section to protect staff and students based on their sexual orientation.
The existing laws that allow schools to exclude transgender students would be referred to the Australian Law Reform Commission for review.
"I understand the proposal that is put forward is to repeal the exemption as it relates to students being exempted from the sex discrimination act on the basis of their sexual orientation," Senator Birmingham said.
"Those other matters as I understand it would still be subject to a relatively quick — within 12 months — review by the [ALRC] to try to address the best way to enact other changes without undermining certain issues around same-sex schools or other matters."
Moderate Liberals were threatening to vote against a religious discrimination bill introduced to parliament today unless protections for staff and students are introduced concurrently.
They also warn the proposed laws go too far in giving people the right to discriminate against others based on religion.
Senator Birmingham said he was eager to see amendments made to protect students and staff based on sexual orientation, but extending that required more work.
"This is not a proposal of the religious discrimination bill, it is an existing law put in place by the previous Labor government," he said.
"We are now seeking to try to work through that, some parts of it have complexity around other related issues, but where there is at least a single simple step that can be taken, I hope that can be taken."
Senator Birmingham said he did not want to see schools allowed to continue to be able to discriminate against transgender people, and hoped the ALRC would "reconcile" the issue.
Greens senator Janet Rice, whose late wife was transgender, said the decision to only scrap exemptions on sexual orientation "is throwing trans people under the bus".
"It's absolutely appalling — this is kids' lives that Morrison is playing with," Senator Rice said.
"Everything Morrison and his government does is about winning an election."
Christian schools say gender identity is 'complex'
Christian Schools Australia (CSA) has expressed concerns that striking out the exemptions in their entirety would affect what religious schools are allowed to teach, and more work needs to be done.
"Expelling students on the basis of their sexual orientation, which we don't do, never have done, never will do; we're happy to accept that amendment at this stage, and have the more complicated work done by the law reform commission," said CSA spokesman Mark Spencer.
"Issues around gender identity are far more complicated — they go into complex areas like use of facilities, use of changing rooms, sporting activities, a whole range of things where there are some very genuine concerns from other students that need to be taken into account as well.
"We need to balance all those things ... the rights of individual students who might be dealing with a gender identity issue, the rights of other students in that cohort, and find a way of navigating that space, if there is a way."
Shadow Home Affairs Minister Kristina Keneally, who is Catholic, said the Opposition had not seen details of the government's proposed changes, and that the government needed to explain its position.
"It seems to be in contradiction to the commitment that the Prime Minister gave three years ago that students would not be discriminated against on the basis of their identity," Senator Keneally said.
"So it's up to the government to explain, as they have failed to do now on multiple occasions, what their position is on this."
