CLICK HERE TO ENTER ZOOM ROOM 1Anti-discrimination law, religion and Australian schools | Jacquie Seemann [in person]
This paper examines the intersections between Australian law and the various ways in which Australian schools seek to deal with, or are affected by, religion. May Jewish schools exclude non-Jewish students or staff? May an Anglican school force a Jewish student to attend chapel? How do religious schools deal with sexuality and dress codes? Religious schools juggle complicated questions, trying to avoid unlawful discrimination while also transmitting religious identity. We’ll explore what Australian Jewish schools can and can’t do compared to other countries, and what the 2018 Religious Freedom Review had to say about these issues.
Finding accommodation between religious precepts and secular imperatives: some lessons from the mortuaries | Graham Segal [in person]
There are many areas of life in which religious or cultural codes may or appear to be in tension with the law of the country. The law and practice relating to coronial post-mortem examinations is one such area. Judaism, as well as other faiths and cultures, forbids the dissection of the deceased. The prohibition is not however absolute; put in its most general terms, if a post mortem procedure may save another life it may not only be permitted but mandated. As with all halakhic propositions, the nature and extent of the exception is the subject of much learning and controversy. This paper explores the way this issue has been addressed, particularly in Australia, by legislative reform, developments in medical technology and science, judicial intervention and changes in coronial practice. There has been considerable success in ameliorating the tension and the Jewish community has played a significant role in achieving benefits for the families of the deceased. That benefit has accrued not only to the several faiths and customs having concerns in this regard but also to the many families who have what might be called emotional abhorrence to the dissection of their loved ones. Underpinning the changes that have taken place is the recognition of the multicultural nature of this society. These developments provide lessons for other areas of tension between religious and secular law.
Training Australian Rabbis and other faith-based leaders in dispute resolution | John Zeleznikow [in person]
Recent developments in Australian case law have exposed limitations in the operation of faith-based dispute resolution and in the understanding that courts and other arbitration bodies have about its operation. In particular Australian Batei Din have regularly had their decisions overruled by Victorian and New South Wales Supreme Courts. We believe training faith-based leaders in governance and dispute resolution will assist in minimising such problems.
We are running a course that will lead to NMAS (National Mediation Accreditation Scheme) accreditation amongst a group of Melbourne based Rabbis. Such a course will include standard mediation teachings but comply with halakha and meet rabbinic needs. Because of their pastoral communal role, Rabbis might find it difficult not to give advice – they will be trained in facilitative mediation to learn that the provision of advice is not the goal of mediation. Based on the course for Rabbis, and learning from the experience, a similar course will be developed for Melbourne based Imams, with funding provided by the Scanlon foundation. The mediation simulations and some lectures will differ for Rabbis and Imams; the other material will be common to both groups.
