As a white, heterosexual, married, employed, beer-loving, smoking, betting male, I am one of the most discriminated against in society.

Couldn't agree more with most of your post, Jeff. Don't know about making any form of discrimination illegal under any circumstances, though. Just thinking about the things a lawyer with a w_nk of a client could do with such a blanket prohibition: discriminating also means making a decision/choice...

Agreed. Religion should be no excuse for discrimination. I don't discriminate against any religion. As an atheist, I reckon they're all a bit nutty.

There is a hell of a lot of things that mankind is good at. One is common sense. Good article. Dave Newcastle

ho .. humm dont do to others what you dont want them to do to you to hard to understand ? sleep on it!

Anti-discrimination laws are hard to enforce. Every day people above a certain age are passed by for jobs, but they're not told it's because of their age. Small businesses must be wary of women in their reproductive years. Maternity leave can be a burden on a marginal business. Often no reason is given why someone does not get a certain job. If a reason is given it is never one that will get the employers into trouble. Abundance, talk about nutty; nothing more nutty than believing that any code, like the genetic code which is the basis for all life, can arise spontaneously. Yes, even Richard Dawkins does not know the answer to that one. All attempts to get past that one are wild speculation freed from any factual ties.

Religion gives credence to intolerance. They should not be exempt from these laws at all. Further, if they want to have a say in public affairs, perhaps they could start paying taxes. Until then, they should focus on their own narrow worlds. one of the tenets of the christian faith is tolerance, but it is so rarely demonstrated by followers of this faith. The case of the proposed Islamic school in western sydney is a great example.

The churches' gender-based discrimination is an anachronism and they should be made to obey the law like everyone else. This measure is long overdue. Apart from the clear-cut issue of employment discrimination that needs to be addressed, the Catholic Church in particular has shot itself in the foot over sexual abuse. It is pretty clear they now have zero credibility on sexual matters. Their system of gender segregation is now widely suspected of contributing to pathological sexual behaviour. Were it any other organisation, public outcry would have seen this disbanded long ago. Enough secret men's business. Religious organisations should be integrated like the rest of society along normal gender lines in this the twenty-first century.

Mindless discrimination is largely self-correcting in an open market. Any business that cuts out quality employees on the basis of race, gender, sexual preference, etc will inevitably suffer a competitive disadvantage and go under. For this reason the entire Act is now irrelevant and should be sent the way of the dinosaur. Any organisation should be free to discriminate on the basis of its own principles. If you are a hard-line Zionist, why would you even want to seek employment as a cleaner at Lakemba Mosque - and vice-versa? Why should a Catholic school have to pay wages to somebody who is a committed euthenasia advocate, and who in their spare time will lobby against the interests of their employer? Like Unions, the anti-discrimination laws served a purpose at the time they were enacted and helped with positive social change. Now they are a handbrake on human progress and freedom.

MY partner was recently denied a position in a catholic school, because she was 'not Catholic enough'. This is despite her having a degree in sociology, a masters in theology, being specially trained (at university level) as a teacher of religious education, with ten years experience, about 2 dozen glowing references (including references from three clergy). She has more than a decade of work for the church and church related organisations and has also been formally recognised by the catholic education office as a certified 'teacher of religious education'. She had more than 12 months experience in the school. the only reason given was that she could be 'more' catholic..... Christians, the least christian people i know...