ABSTRACT
Under anti-discrimination legislation, religious schools in Australia are often provided with the ability to make employment decisions based on an individual’s compatibility with the school’s religion. These provisions have the capacity to adversely affect a considerable number of individuals employed or seeking employment at these schools. In 2011, for example, there were 9,435 schools in Australia, comprising 6,705 government schools, 1,710 Catholic schools, and 1,020 Independent schools (the majority being religious schools) 1 – with the Catholic and Independent schools together employing 104,779 teachers. 2 The actual number of employees who could be adversely affected would be much higher than this, as this fi gure does not include management, support, or maintenance staff or the employees of educational institutions other than schools. Further, all members of the community have the potential to be adversely affected by the employment decisions of religious schools if they decide to apply for a teaching or non-teaching employment position.
