BALANCING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND ANTI-DISCRIMINATION: CHRISTIAN YOUTH CAMPS LTD V COBAW COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES LTD

Courts in Australia are rarely called on to discuss the tension between free exercise of religion and rights arising under the general law. When free exercise of religion entails discrimination against protected individuals, however, the competing concepts of liberty and equality are fiercely contested. Victorian anti-discrimination legislation was recently tested in Christian Youth Camps Ltd v Cobaw Community Health Services Ltd, where a Christian camp was successfully sued for refusing to accommodate a group of same-sex attracted youths. The Victorian Court of Appeal's interpretation of the Equal Opportunity Act 1995 (Vic) was broad and protective of the Act's purposes, and represents an encouraging step in anti-discrimination jurisprudence. However, the decision also highlights gaps in legislative protection for similarly-situated individuals, and leaves some conceptual issues unresolved and open to future challenge.