Living Positive Victoria calls for changes to the religious discrimination bill to protect people living with HIV

Living Positive Victoria wholeheartedly welcomes the amendments made to the sex discrimination act last night extending protections to some of the most vulnerable young people in the community.

For people living with HIV, stigma and discrimination isn’t just something we see, or that we hear. It’s something that we feel, something that we know. In the early days of the HIV/AIDS response, it was all too common to hear people pass their judgement on us based on their religious belief that it was the wrath of God against gays, drug users and sex workers; a divine consequence for ‘choices made’.  We also saw this reflected in the broader community discourse and via media commentary, which has had a significant and ongoing impact on us individually and collectively.

Over the last 40 years we have come a long way in our understanding and compassion. We fear that the current religious discrimination bill has the potential to unwind these advances across a range of domains that could impact and further marginalise people living with HIV.

With more than half of all people living with HIV in Australia being over 50 the potential for some government funded religiously affiliated aged care and disability service providers to potentially have the ability to deny access and to discriminate against people living with HIV is unacceptable.  It’s where people are at their most vulnerable that we have the highest level of concern for the impact of the bill in its current form.

President of Living Positive Victoria, Craig Brennan says “the draft laws go beyond protecting religious belief and could easily hand a license to discriminate against people living with HIV. We deserve the right to live in dignity without compromising access to judgement-free healthcare or inclusive workplaces – these are basic human rights that should never be compromised for any reason. “

CEO Richard Keane adds “Living Positive Victoria is passionate about equity for all people living with HIV and their safety. For some of our members in the ever-diversifying communities with which we are engaged, faith is central to identity and sense of self. I have long been passionate about engaging multi-faith communities to challenge misconceptions and stigma surrounding HIV. This has taken genuine interest, partnership and leadership from all sides, often against the tide of the genuinely-held religious beliefs of many within those congregations.”

This bill has the very real potential to further enable and legitimise open discrimination and increase stigma, resulting in poor quality of life outcomes and further disconnection to family, culture and a sense of belonging for many people living with HIV from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds and undermine the good work, goodwill and momentum we have been building together.”

We also have grave concerns over the prospect that this bill may override state workplace discrimination laws affecting people living with HIV in the workplace where disclosure of a person’s HIV status may have occurred.

We ask that the senate consider not passing this bill in its current form and to re-visit this important issue after the next election where genuine community engagement and consultation can occur that might address many of the unintended consequences that have been raised by such a diverse range of communities across the nation.

Read more in our Autumn 2021 issue of Poslink where Heath Paynter and Jeanne Ellard discuss how the Religious Freedom Bill is out of step with Australia’s HIV response.

Living Positive Victoria acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land where we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We celebrate the stories, culture and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders of all communities who also work and live on this land.