Religious Discrimination (NT)
In the Northern Territory, the Anti-Discrimination Act 1992 prohibits discrimination against a person on the basis of protected attributes including sex, race, age, and religion. This page outlines the law on religious discrimination in the NT.
What is discrimination?
Under section 20 of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1992, a person discriminates against another person if they make a distinction, restriction, exclusion, or preference based on a protected attribute and this nullifies equality of opportunity for the person, or if a person harasses another person on the basis of an attribute.
Discrimination will be found to occur if a person treats another person less favourably because of an attribute person has, or because of characteristic imputed to people who have their attribute.
For discrimination to occur, the attribute must be the main reason for the less favourable treatment.
Where is discrimination prohibited?
The Anti-Discrimination Act 1992 prohibits discrimination in a number of areas of public life. This includes in education, work, accommodation, the provision of goods and services, clubs, in insurance and superannuation, and in the administration of government programs and laws.
What is religious belief or activity?
The prohibition against discrimination on the basis of religion extends to any aspect of religious belief or activity.
This means that a person who is operating in an area covered by the Act (such as an employer or an accommodation provider) must not discriminate against a person on the basis of any of the following:
- the fact that the person prays throughout the day
- the fact that the person wears a head scarf or a yarmulke
- the fact that the person is a follower of a particular religion
- the fact that the person has a particular religious belief.
Religious discrimination exemption
Under section 30B of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1992, there is an exemption to the prohibition against religious discrimination in relation to educational institutions that operate in accordance with the beliefs of a religion.
Under this exemption, a religious school or other educational institution such as a childcare centre may discriminate in its hiring practices or in the requirements that it imposes on its employees if the discrimination:
- is on the basis of religious belief or activity; and
- is in good faith to avoid defending the religious sensibilities of a reasonable person of the particular religion.
This means that a religious school may hire a person who follows a particular religion over a person who does not, even when the person hired is less qualified than the other person.
A religious school may also impose a code of conduct governing the behaviour of employees while they are at work in accordance with the beliefs and practices of the religion. However, it may not impose conduct rules affecting how employees may behave outside of work.
A religious institution must have written policy outlining how preference will be given on the basis of religious beliefs.
A religious school may not discriminate on the basis of any attribute other than religion.
History of the exemption
The religious discrimination exception in the Anti-Discrimination Act 1992 has a controversial history. The exception was abolished by a Labor government in 2022 on the basis that it permitted unacceptable discrimination practices.
When the Country Liberal Party returned to power, it promised to reinstate the exemption, saying it was necessary to protect freedom of speech for religious communities. It said that religious schools needed to be able to operate in accordance with their religious beliefs.
In October 2025, the Act was amended, and a religious discrimination exemption was introduced once again. However, the new provision is narrower than the one that existed prior to 2022, which allowed religious institutions to discriminate on the basis of other attributes as well as religion.
Other exemptions
The Act also contains other exemptions in respect of religious discrimination.
Under section 40, an accommodation provider that is operated by a religious body may discriminate on the basis of religion when deciding who is to reside in the accommodation in order to avoid offending the sensibilities of members of the religion.
Under section 43, a person may restrict access to a place of cultural or religious significance by people who are not a particular age, sex, race, or religion in accordance with the teachings of the religion in order to avoid offending religious sensibilities of people of the religion.
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Fernanda Dahlstrom is a writer, editor and lawyer. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Latrobe University), a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (College of Law), a Bachelor of Arts (The University of Melbourne) and a Master of Arts (Deakin University). Fernanda practised law for eight years, working in criminal law, child protection and domestic violence law in the Northern Territory, and in family law in Queensland.