Is this Enlightenment or stupidity?
How about Pedophiles?
The funniest part is that Corporations with over 300 Million $ are authorized to do so.
Story:
Religious organisations, including those funded by the state government, retain their legal right to discriminate against pregnant women under a new human rights bill.
The draft of the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill consolidates five existing federal discrimination laws after a decades-long campaign by lawyers and human rights advocates. The draft bill makes clearer which groups religious organisations can discriminate against lawfully.
Under the draft bill, faith-based groups, including schools and hospitals, can still refuse to hire people because of a wide range of attributes that would be unlawful for any other organisation, including women who are pregnant or potentially pregnant.
When the Sex Discrimination Act – which came into force in 1984 – was drafted, a number of religious bodies argued they should be allowed to discriminate against pregnant or ”potentially pregnant” women to avoid having to employ unwed mothers.
The Human Rights Law Centre’s director of advocacy and strategic litigation, Anna Brown, said that while the bill introduced important new protections from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and removed the ability of religious bodies to discriminate on the basis of age, sex and breastfeeding, it was a ”missed opportunity” to narrow the broad exemptions available to religious groups.
Weet-Bix manufacturer Sanitarium is a religious organisation owned and operated by the Seventh-Day Adventist church, which means it could discriminate against people with these attributes.
An online advertisement for a manufacturing team leader position with the company says: ”If you share our passion for what we do, our products and you can align with our Christian-based principles this is a great opportunity for you.”
Sanitarium spokeswoman Julie Praestiin said the company’s workplace culture was ”grounded on Christian-based values of care, courage, humility, integrity and passion which are generally shared by the Australian community”.
She said Sanitarium complied with employment laws. ”We are an equal opportunity employer and have a diverse workforce which encompasses a variety of cultures and worldviews. Religious belief is not a condition of employment.”
Hugh de Kretser, executive officer of the Federation of Community Legal Centres, said that Sanitarium, which is understood to have a turnover of $300 million a year – although the church is not required to lodge Sanitarium’s financial reports – should not be allowed to discriminate.
”That a large organisation with a turnover of $300 million a year is given a green light by the law to discriminate highlights the problems with these exemptions,” he said.
http://www.reddit.com/tb/16ovis
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