2019 Readings
Thursday21 March2019
This paper takes us a back over a decade to a controversy about photographic art, and invites us to think, despite the passage of same sex marriage laws, and a change of government, if anything much has changed in Australian law and policy on queer matters. Are we still in a state of crisis? Unsure whether the cause of equality is best pursued through or outside the legal system?
Thursday9 May2019
Thursday15 August2019
This reading will provoke discussion about the intersection of freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and freedom of religion: a matter that is occupying the minds of many in our federal polity. Elphick suggests that a theorised way to accommodate conflicting rights may provide an alternate path to existing proportionality-type approaches: but should the law be used to sanction exclusion or denial? Our discussion will undoubtedly turn to the position of religious schools and the possibility for adverse treatment of their queer staff and students that exists in current laws. How does the law allow this to occur? What might it say about the exercise of power and control over the law, but also the changing influence of rights-based law, and in particular equality-based law, in our legal system?