The recently released report of the Law Reform Commission, entitled Maximising the Realisation of Human Rights: Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws, has generated commentary on its impact on religiously affiliated schools, and freedom of religion in Australia. As foreshadowed in its Interim Report, the Commission has recommended that religiously affiliated schools should be prohibited from discriminating against staff and students who fail to exhibit the religious ethos, values, and aspirations of the school.

Specifically, the report prohibits discrimination against students ‘on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or relationship status, or pregnancy’ but, incongruously, permits religious institutions to teach...