Weekend Wrap for 2 July 2023

TAS: The ACT's move to provide greater protections for intersex people is going to support a lot of children and is needed in Tasmania, an advocate says. This year the ACT introduced a law to improve support for intersex people and their families, including safe-guards to protect from "inappropriate", "cosmetic" surgeries. Tasmanian representative for Intersex Peer Support Australia Simon-lisa Anderson said Tasmania needed similar laws as soon as possible to stop these types of procedures before a child can give consent. (25 Jun 2023)
Read more at The Examiner

ACT: Calvary Health has made the decision to "step away" from running the ACT’s only inpatient palliative care service, Clare Holland House, when Canberra Health Service takes over Calvary Public Hospital on 3 July. In a statement published 26 June National Chief Executive Martin Bowles said Calvary and the ACT Government have, "jointly agreed it was in the best interests of patients and employees to ensure an integrated model is preserved." (26 Jun 2023)
Read more at The Catholic Weekly

NSW: City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has moved to facilitate and endorse a Statewide LGBTQI Local Government Safety Summit. In collaboration with ACON and Local Government NSW, the one-day, in-person Summit will bring Councils, NSW Government agencies, and law enforcement together with LGBTQI community organisations and researchers. The Summit will aim to raise awareness of anti-LGBTQI threats, facilitate collaboration among local government and the community. It will also work to and “develop a coordinated response plan to mitigate risks and improve safety.” (26 Jun 2023)
Read more at The Star Observer

TAS: Catholic Education Tasmania is reviewing plans to introduce a new religious education course for year 11 and 12 students that includes "the more conservative elements of religious thinking" on topics such as marriage and sexuality. The course outline says it would teach the "complementarity" of male and female genders and would require teachers to be "unambiguous in the clarity of their articulation of Catholic teaching" on marriage and sexuality. The Independent Education Union (IEU) said it would make the study of religious education mandatory in both years 11 and 12. The IEU's deputy general secretary for Victoria and Tasmania, Kylie Busk, said there had been a lack of consultation during the development of the course, and teachers were concerned about some of its content, such as the role of gender. (28 Jun 2023)
Read more at ABC News

NSW: The NSW Labor government has introduced a bill to ban vilification on the grounds of religious belief or affiliation. The proposed changes to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 have been criticised as convoluted and vague and for failing to adequately protect vulnerable communities. Law groups including the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) have questioned the vagueness of terms in the bill which could mean organisations – and not just individuals – are protected from religious vilification. Josh Pallas, President of NSWCCL, said that the Bill could “create a situation in which severe ridicule or vilification of institutions such as, for example, the Catholic Church, Hillsong, the Church of Scientology or the Anglican Church may be taken to constitute severe ridicule or vilification of persons who belong to those organisations, and thus made unlawful.” (28 Jun 2023)
Read more at The Star Observer

TAS: Tasmanians who display a Nazi symbol or perform a Nazi salute face the prospect of three months in jail or fines of more than $3500. Legislation to outlaw Nazi symbols and salutes has passed the second reading stage at the Legislative Council, locking in the changes. The laws clearly state displaying the swastika in the context of the Buddhist, Hindu and Jain communities is not an offence. They also allow for other legitimate displays of the swastika such as for other religious, cultural, academic and educational purposes, the government said. (29 Jun 2023)
Read more at The New Daily

VIC: Victoria's 60 highest-fee non-government schools will lose their exemption to payroll tax as part of a state budget measure — roughly half the number foreshadowed in the May budget. Victoria's budget will be $100 million worse off after the Andrews government backed down on its a plan to hit fee-paying schools with payroll tax, following pressure from private schools and parents. The Catholic Education Commission of Victoria executive director Jim Miles welcomed the increase in the tax-free threshold but said no Catholic school should have to pay the tax. (29 Jun 2023)
Read more at ABC News

VIC: In the course of casting the deciding vote on Tuesday to remove prayers from Nillumbik Shire Council meetings, Mayor Ben Ramcharan labelled the recitation of Christian prayers at the opening of government meetings exclusionary, arguing that non-religious people should not be forced to take part in religious worship. In supporting the changes to the Governance Rules, councillors pointed to the latest Census figures showing that 50 per cent of residents in the Nillumbik council area identified as not religious. The Nillumbik Shire Council’s decision to remove prayer from meetings adds to the growing momentum across the country for prayer rituals in parliaments and local councils to be replaced with more inclusive and secular practices. (29 Jun 2023)
Read more at the Rationalist Society of Australia

ACT: Teenagers as young as 14 could access euthanasia in the ACT as the Labor-Greens government considers the most liberal ­voluntary assisted dying framework in Australia. The ACT government next Thursday will release its community consultation report on an assisted-suicide framework, with a final model to be ready by the end of the year. Human Rights Minister Tara Cheyne told The Australian she was considering allowing minors as young as 14 to be eligible for ­assisted suicide, with the ACT for the first time able to legalise euthanasia after being given the green light by federal parliament. Ms Cheyne rejected a requirement by other Australian jurisdictions that assisted-suicide could only be accessed by people with an “arbitrary” expected death timeline of between six and 12 months. The government has also committed to investigate how it can allow people with dementia to access euthanasia. (29 Jun 2023)
Read more at The Australian