In 2019 the Attorney-General’s Department sought feedback on the proposed Religious Discrimination Bill – which can be found here.
Level recognises that inequitable health outcomes for women, queer, gender diverse and disabled communities demand extra vigilance in our criticism of government policy which underwrites protections against discrimination in institutional settings. We have significant concerns regarding the potential for the proposed Religious Discrimination Bill to render the aforementioned communities vulnerable to worse health outcomes.
Level thus worked with the Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) to prepare a submission to the Attorney General’s Department outlining concerns regarding the implications of the Religious Discrimination Bill for health outcomes of often marginalised communities. These concerns include the potential of the Bill to:
- Limit access to important reproductive healthcare services such as termination of pregnancy and contraception
- Enable medical practitioner to refuse treatment to individuals based on sex, sexuality and choices made regarding and individuals health
- Enable institutions to select a medical and healthcare workforce that represents a demographic reflective of the ideals of those institutions, rather than the diversity of our communities
You can read the submission in full here: AMSA and Level Medicine submission regarding the proposed Religious Discrimination Bill .