Fair Work Commission

Overview

Religious discrimination includes distinctions made on the basis of expression of religious beliefs or membership in a religious group. This also includes discrimination against people who do not ascribe to a particular religious belief or are atheists.^[1]

Courts have had difficulties defining the term ‘religion’ due to the absence of a universally satisfying definition of the term.^[2] The following features were provided by the High Court as helpful but not determinative aids in deciding whether a particular collection of ideas and/or practices should objectively be characterised as ‘a religion’:

• the particular collection of ideas and/or practices involves belief in the supernatural, i.e. belief that reality extends beyond that which is capable of perception by the senses
• the ideas relate to man’s nature and place in the universe and relation to things supernatural
• the ideas are accepted by adherents as requiring or encouraging them to observe particular standards or codes of conduct or to participate in specific practices having supernatural significance
• however loosely knit and varying in beliefs and practices adherents may be, they constitute an identifiable group or identifiable groups, and
• the adherents themselves see the collection of ideas and/or practices as constituting a religion.^[3]

Although discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs is not permitted, there may be legitimate bases for imposing requirements in the workplace which restrict the worker’s freedom to practice a particular religion, such as:

• a religion may prohibit work on a day on which the employer usually operates
• a religion may require a special type of clothing which may not be compatible with safety equipment
• a religion may prescribe dietary restrictions or daily routines during work hours which may be difficult for the establishment to fully accommodate, or
• an employment position may require an oath incompatible with a religious belief or practice.^[4]

Case example

References