Australian Christians

3 months ago

Reality check: Most changes to WA's assisted dying bill now not Goiran's!

“Just a few weeks ago, Premier Mark McGowan said Mr Goiran's behaviour was "disgraceful", accusing him of "just trying to wreck the bill with these ridiculous, endless amendments". ... See MoreSee Less

Australian Christians

3 months ago

'I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD HAPPEN TO ME':

As WA debates the VAD Bill, one has to reflect on the findings from The WA Final Report of the Select Committee into Elder Abuse. How can the WA McGowan Government deem this good legislation?

• There are up to 75,000 older people at risk of elder abuse in WA;
• The majority of perpetrators are likely to be close family members, including children, grandchildren or spouses of the victim;
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face a greater risk of experiencing elder abuse, and it may occur at a younger age than other older people in the community;
• Experiencing social isolation and loneliness is one of the most significant risk factors for elder abuse and a source of vulnerability in older people.

Did you also know:
• The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2019 allows a person to take home the lethal substance and keep it in their home until they are ready to use it?

• The Hon Stephen Dawson outlined the government’s position in relation to this issue:
“It is not our intention to police storage within the patient’s home”.

“The department is of the view that advising or educating people on safe storage and medication management is more appropriate and effective than a fixed legislative requirement for a specific method.”

- Branka van der Linden. Director, HOPE -
www.noeuthanasia.org.au/ ... See MoreSee Less

Australian Christians

3 months ago

“Faith-based schools and groups have warned their charitable status could be stripped under a “public benefit” test over traditional marriage and gender beliefs.”

It comes as pressure builds for Attorney-General Christian Porter to expand his religious freedoms package.

Ahead of an address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Mr Porter will stare down pressure from leading Christian and Jewish groups who are calling for a wider overhaul of the Charities Act to protect against legal challenges.

Mr Porter will outline the complexity in drafting the religious bills amid competing interests of faith-based, business and social groups in his speech and is expected to provide detail on his finalised package ahead of tabling the bills in parliament before December 5.
The updated religious discrimination bill will include protections for faith-based hospitals and aged care facilities.

Clause 4 of Mr Porter’s draft Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Freedom of Religion) Bill ensures supporting a traditional view of marriage will not be a “disqualifying purpose” that would preclude an organisation from remaining a charity under the Act.

While Mr Porter, who has declared he will not make wholesale changes to his religious freedoms package, has committed to amending the Charities Act, he is unlikely to expand changes to the public benefit test.

The Australian can reveal Scott Morrison, a devout Christian who abstained from voting on the same-sex marriage bill, attempted to move marriage amendments in 2017 supporting greater protection for charities to ensure they were not disqualified over marriage and religious beliefs.

An explanatory memorandum examining concerns over the public benefit requirement flagged potential issues for religious charities following the legalisation of same-sex marriage.

Mr Porter’s resistance to expanding changes to the Charities Act comes despite a New Zealand case which saw Christian lobby group Family First stripped of its charitable status over its traditional view of marriage.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference also called for the Charities Act to be amended to ensure advocacy for marriage does “not contravene the public benefits test”. ... See MoreSee Less