Rainbow Families Joint Submission to the Religious Freedom Bills Consultation.

Collecting our community stories for the consultation

The federal government released their Exposure Draft on the proposed Religious Freedom Reforms and have asked for community feedback by October 2, 2019. You can read more here: https://www.ag.gov.au/Consultations/Pages/religious-freedom-bills.aspx

We have combined to collectively respond on behalf of rainbow families across Queensland, NSW and Victoria and are seeking your stories about your personal experiences of discrimination.

We aim to illustrate the personal impact some parts of the proposed bills may have on our day to day lives, and the impact it may also have on our children because of comments made about their parents/carers/coparents sex, sexuality or gender identity, how their family was created or their family form. This is why we are asking about any discriminatory, inappropriate, offensive or hurtful comments you or your family have been confronted with by specific people in specific settings.

We have also asked if you are a member of a faith community or are religious so we can remind the government that you can be a member of multiple communities at once.

We understand it may be difficult to contribute and so please consider contacting QLIFE - 1800 184 527 or seek support via their website https://qlife.org.au/

Your responses may be edited for length and some individual quotes may used in our submission or media related to this issue over the coming months. All quotes will be de-identifed however we will include your responses to Question 1 and to Question 2 - so we suggest you leave these questions blank if you do not wish to risk being identified.

Thank you in anticipation.

In solidarity.

Rainbow Families NSW, Rainbow Families Queensland and Rainbow Families Victoria.

Question Title

* 1. Please describe your rainbow family in a few words (for example, We are a two dad family and have three kids under 12, I am a non-binary sole parent of one pre-school child aged 4...etc)

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* 2. Please indicate which state or territory you live in (please leave blank if your are concerned about risk of being identified)

NSW

Queensland

Victoria

ACT

South Australia

Tasmania

Western Australia

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* 3. Are you a member of a faith community or are you religious? If yes, please indicate which communities you, or your family, are part of. Thank you.

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* 4. Have you or your family ever been subjected to discriminatory, inappropriate, offensive or hurtful comments about you, your family composition or your rainbow family generally?

If YES, please describe what occurred:

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* 5. Has a individual person of faith ever made discriminatory, inappropriate, offensive or hurtful comments about you, your family composition or your rainbow family generally on the basis of their faith?

YES - please describe what occurred:

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* 6. Where were you when these discriminatory, inappropriate, offensive or hurtful comments were made? (Note: you may have responded to this in your responses to Q.5 - this is not a finite list.)

At work

Applying for a job,

Attending work experience

In a secondary school setting

In a primary school setting

At a day care, kinder or child care setting

University or TAFE/VET

Accessing superannuation or insurance (including taxis, ,

Accessing insurance

Accessing family violence services

Accessing medical services including hospitals or community health

Accessing mental health services for counselling or therapy

Accessing disability services for you or your child

Accommodation - renting a home

Accommodation - for a holiday

At a sports or recreation clubs

Receiving government services

Other (please specify)

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* 7. If you replied YES to Question 5, did you make a complaint?

YES - please provide details on how the complaint was handled and how you felt afterwards...or other details as relevant.

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* 8. Has a health practitioner ever made discriminatory, inappropriate, offensive or hurtful comments about you, your family composition or your rainbow family generally? (this can include in hospital settings, doctors, nurses, dentists, fertility services including fertility preservation, mental health, counselling, physiotherapy, natural therapists, speech pathology, etc)

YES - please provide details of what occurred: were members of your family or a child present, what did they say to you, etc.

Question Title

* 9. Thinking about your responses to Q.8, what happened next? Did you...

Continue seeking treatment from this practitioner

Make a complaint through the appropriate channels

Leave the service immediately

Ask for a new referral

Discuss your concerns with the health practitioner personally

Other (please specify)

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* 10. If you have have been subjected to discriminatory, inappropriate, offensive or hurtful comments how did it impact on your children personally ( eg: did they overhear a hurtful comment and ask about it) or did a comment impact on your decision about which service to take your child to, for example ?

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* 11. If service providers, teachers and school staff, and co-workers are able to state their personal, faith-based beliefs about you/your family without this being considered discrimination, how will this impact on you/your rainbow family?

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* 12. PERMISSION TO KEEP YOUR CONTACT DETAILS.
Over the next few months we may require people who can tell their stories at hearing or for case studies or media stories. If you are ok with being contacted about this please provide your name, email and mobile number, your contact details will not be linked to your responses above for the purpose of the initial submission. A representative from Rainbow Families NSW, QLD or NSW will be provided with you contact details and will not pass them on to a third party. Name

Name

Phone Number