Religious schools in Western Australia would no longer be able to sack a teacher or expel a student because of their sexuality under a rewrite of the state's Equal Opportunity Act that the Cook Government will introduce to Parliament on Wednesday, 21 October 2026.
Premier Roger Cook and Attorney-General Tony Buti announced the bill outside Parliament House on Tuesday. Mr Buti called it the biggest overhaul of WA's anti-discrimination law in more than four decades. The current Act dates from 1984.
"Hate is not OK in WA." — Roger Cook, Premier
What changes for religious schools
The most contested part of the bill is how it treats faith-based schools and other religious bodies. As the Government has described it, they would still be able to prefer people of their own faith when hiring staff or enrolling students. That would be the only ground on which they could discriminate.
They could not refuse a student because of a disability. They could not dismiss a teacher or expel a student because of sexual orientation. Once someone is employed or enrolled, the religious exemption would apply only where religion is an inherent requirement of the job.
"The exemption is purely on religion, not on sexual orientation." — Tony Buti, Attorney-General, as reported by the ABC
Mr Buti also confirmed that gender identity would be a protected attribute.
Who else gets new protection
The bill adds attributes that the 1984 Act does not cover. According to the Premier and reporting by the ABC and OUTinPerth, these include:
- being homeless
- exposure to family and domestic violence
- pregnancy and breastfeeding
- caring responsibilities
- involvement in trade union activity
The bill also makes vilification and harassment unlawful as well as discrimination. Mr Cook said rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and intimidation in Australia and in WA were among the reasons for acting now. He said the changes would bring WA into line with most other states.
Bigger payouts, more time to complain
The $40,000 ceiling on compensation in equal opportunity cases would be removed, so there would be no upper limit on damages. People would also get two years instead of 12 months to lodge a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Commission, according to OUTinPerth's report of the announcement.
How it has landed
Rainbow Futures WA chief executive Dr Misty Farquhar told OUTinPerth the update was long overdue and would benefit everyone in WA, not only LGBTQIA+ people. She said the group wanted to see the full text, particularly the exemptions for faith-based schools.
Felicity Creagh, the mother of two autistic children, told the ABC she was "relieved and encouraged" by the disability protections.
Shadow Attorney-General Nick Goiran said the Opposition would scrutinise the bill once it was tabled. He said it would consult the groups affected and test the Premier's claim that WA would be brought into line with the other states.
Christian school advocates have campaigned for weeks to keep the current faith-based hiring protections. A fight over the religious school provisions is likely when the bill is debated.
A long road
The WA Law Reform Commission recommended a major overhaul in 2022, including stronger protections for LGBTIQA+ staff and students at religious schools. The McGowan Government broadly accepted those recommendations that year. Drafting then took years, and the reform became a running source of frustration for advocacy groups. In 2024 the State had already scrapped the requirement for surgery before people could change their legal sex.
What happens next
The bill will be introduced on Wednesday. It must pass both houses before any of the changes take effect. Labor controls the Legislative Assembly, but the detail of the religious exemptions will be closely examined in the Legislative Council. Parents, teachers and staff at Perth's many independent and faith-based schools will be watching to see what the final text says.
Sources: ABC News; OUTinPerth; OUTinPerth on X.
Photo: Parliament House, Perth. Steelkamp via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). File photo.
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