Media release - Proposed amendments to Anti-Discrimination Act 1992

Media Release - 27 May 2025

The Anti-Discrimination Act is about protecting, not excluding: Reintroducing discrimination exemptions in religious institutions is redundant and symbolically harmful.

On the heels of IDAHOBIT, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia, we understand that the Northern Territory Government is steadfast to reinstate a version of Section 37A of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1992 (ADA). We have been unable to confirm which parliamentary sitting this will occur, but we have confirmation that some form of religious exemption will be reinstated as soon as possible. Depending on the wording of the provision, this could allow religious educational institutions to lawfully discriminate against people seeking employment based on sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, and other protected attributes.

As Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, I am deeply concerned by this proposal. It not only undermines the spirit of IDAHOBIT, it undermines the foundational purpose of anti-discrimination law itself. As Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, I fully recognise the importance of protecting freedom of religion. But our laws must ensure that one right is not exercised at the expense of others.

Section 37A was repealed in 2023 after a decade of public consultation, legal review, and parliamentary scrutiny. That reform was not just regulatory, it was visionary. It aligned the Territory with national and international human rights standards and affirmed that every Territorian deserves protection under the law.

The Anti-Discrimination Act is beneficial legislation. It is designed to protect people from exclusion and must be interpreted in their favour. That is why the NT Anti-Discrimination Commission formally advised the Attorney-General against reinstating any version of Section 37A. Protecting one attribute, religious belief, at the expense of 23 others, including race, disability, age, sex, and sexuality, is neither necessary nor justifiable.

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has warned that exemptions like these risk weakening the protective purpose of anti-discrimination law.

“Exemptions should be narrow, necessary, and proportionate… not so broad as to undermine the legislation’s core objectives.”
“Governments must uphold laws grounded in principle, evidence, and equality.” — ALRC Freedoms Report (2015)

This is supported by Equality Australia’s 2024 report, Dismissed, Denied and Demeaned, which found:

• Nearly 4 in 10 independent religious schools permit exclusion of LGBTQ+ people;
• Many receive public funding, yet have no clear inclusion standards;
• LGBTQ+ students and staff are often forced to suppress their identity to remain safe.

Equality is not something to be bargained away. It is a legal standard, a democratic obligation, and a human right. The people of the Northern Territory deserve nothing less. It is also worth recalling that a Country Liberal Party Government decriminalised homosexuality in the NT in the early 1980s, making the NT the only jurisdiction to do so without public pressure. That was principled, courageous leadership. I urge the current government to uphold that legacy.

We already have provisions that protect occupational needs (section 35), which balances religious freedom with the rights of others. Reintroducing Section 37A is redundant, legally confusing, and symbolically harmful.

The Northern Territory should be a place where everyone belongs, no matter who they are, what they believe, or who they love. I urge the Government and community leaders to protect the integrity of the Anti-Discrimination Act and to ensure equality is more than a principle, it is a lived reality.

Jeswynn Yogaratnam
Anti-Discrimination Commissioner & Principal Community Visitor

Media contact: antidiscrimination@nt.gov.au