Petitions - Portfolio: Attorney General

To the Members of the Legislative Council:

The Petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council the objection of the Victorian community to the proposed changes to the Equal Opportunity Act 1995 which will:

1. Seriously threaten the educational freedom of independent or faith schools and remove or restrict the freedom of faith-based schools to operate in accordance with their beliefs and principles;
2. Remove or restrict the right of schools to employ staff who uphold the school’s values;
3. Provide the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission with the power to launch investigations of “systemic discrimination” whether or not it has received a complaint;
4. Allow the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission to enter schools, small businesses and churches to conduct searches and seize documents and other material as part of their investigations;
5. Remove sporting and recreational clubs from having a single sex membership base.

The petitioners therefore respectfully calls on the State Government to abandon its plan for the removal of the exemptions to the Equal Opportunity Act 1995 which currently serve to protect the core interests of our faith schools, single sexed clubs and small business.


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