Employment – Aleph Melbourne

Aleph Melbourne submission referenced in ALRC final report of inquiry into Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws

In February 2023 Aleph Melbourne lodged a submission with the Australian Law Reform Commission’s enquiry into Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws.

The ALRC released the report into the enquiry in December 2023, and on March 21 2024 the report was tabled in Parliament.

Aleph Melbourne’s submission was referenced on page 91 in the report, in relation to Section 4.23 point 2:

4.23 In relation to submissions made to the ALRC in this Inquiry, key reasons underpinning stakeholder support for Proposition A.1 were:

coherence with international and domestic law;¹⁴

reducing the risk of harm to vulnerable students;¹⁵

supporting inclusion and diversity;¹⁶ and

compulsory school education is a public good, supported by public funding, so schools should be safe environments for all students, and should be accountable to community expectations.¹⁷

ALRC-ADL-Final-Report-142-pp90-91

Aleph Melbourne submission to ALRC inquiry into Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws

The Australian Law Reform Commission is holding an inquiry into Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws.

This is Aleph Melbourne’s submission to the inquiry:

2023-ALRC-submission-179-M-Barnett-ADL-submission

All submissions here.

Teacher loses job at Orthodox Jewish school in Melbourne after revealing she is transgender

Livia Albeck-Ripka from The New York Times reported in her October 18 2018 article “In Some Australian Schools, Teachers Can Be Fired for Being Gay”:

In Melbourne’s Orthodox Jewish community, a teacher reported losing her job after revealing she was transgender.

It is alarming to read that a teacher has lost her job because she revealed her gender identity and not for any failure to perform her duties as a teacher.

This sends a message that transgender people cannot freely express their gender in a workplace that is exempt from adequate anti-discrimination protections, thereby making their workplace unsafe for them.

Transgender people experience significant levels of discrimination in society due to intolerance, which feeds into elevated levels of suicidal ideation. Schools should be places of learning and knowledge, not intolerance.

If a teacher was sacked for revealing a Jewish identity this would be seen as anti-Semitism, yet it seems there’s another standard for Jewish schools when the act of revealing a gender can lead to termination of employment.

This is a clear case of double standards and is entirely unacceptable.