A member of the South Australian upper house has called on Premier Peter Malinauskas to show “real leadership” and end religious-based discrimination against LGBTIQ people in faith-based institutions.

Last week, Greens member Robert Simms introduced his Equal Opportunity (Religious Bodies) Amendment Bill into the Legislative Council, proposing to remove exemptions provided to religious bodies such as schools and service providers.

In his speech in parliament, Mr Simms (pictured) said it was “difficult to comprehend” that South Australia continued to allow some forms of discrimination against LGBTIQ people.

The exemptions in the state’s Equal Opportunity Act allow religious schools to fire teachers and religious welfare service providers such as shelters to refuse service on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity

Mr Simms criticised the Albanese government for abandoning its commitment to address religious exemptions in federal anti-discrimination laws, but said the decision now opened the way for states to act.

He noted that South Australia had been a leader in decriminalising homosexuality – the 50-year anniversary for which will occur next year.

“It would be very embarrassing if during that milestone year we still see this kind of discrimination being perpetuated against LGBTI South Australians,” he said.

“I urge Premier Malinauskas to show some leadership here, to not miss that opportunity to finally right this wrong in our laws, otherwise it will be a really sad indictment on South Australia that we led the way on this reform, yet now we are a state that is lagging behind.”

The Rationalist Society of Australia (RSA) has been lobbying the Malinauskas government to remove the exemptions, writing to Attorney-General Kyam Maher as recently as late last month.

Soon after coming to power in 2022, Mr Maher told the RSA he would “give further consideration” to the matter, which had been the subject of a public consultation by the previous Liberal government.

The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is actively campaigning for the South Australian government and parliamentarians to oppose Mr Simms’ bill.

On Christian radio program 20Twenty on Monday, ACL spokesperson Ashlyn Vice said that, historically, the South Australian Labor Party had been “more conservative” than the state’s Liberal Party.

“There’s a lot of support here for Christian schools to still have that ability to self-determine and to operate genuinely in accordance with their religious ethos,” she said.

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Si Gladman is Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. He also hosts ‘The Secular Agenda’ podcast