AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENCE OF
GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
PRESS RELEASE 923
ENTANGLEMENT OF RELIGION WITH STATE – AUTOMATICALLY LEADS TO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST STUDENTS
Citipointe Christian College in Brisbane is making headlines this week for asking parents to sign a new contract with an attached Declaration of Faith or forgo their child’s enrolment. At a Press Conference on 1ST February 2022 , Queensland Education Minister Grace said the matter had been referred to Queensland’s Non-State School’s Accreditation Board, (Nine News reports.)
Citipointe’s contract requires parents to affirm that their child identifies as the gender they were assigned at birth, stating, “The College believes that by creating each person, God in his divine love and wisdom gifted them their gender, as male or female. The College therefore acknowledges the biological sex of a person recognised at birth and requires practices consistent with that sex.”
“I/we agree that where distinctions are made between male and female (inclusive of, but not limited to, for example, uniforms, presentation, terminology, use of facilities and amenities, participation in sporting events and accommodation) such distinctions will be applied on the basis of the individual’s biological sex.”
The attached declaration asks parents to agree that “any form of sexual immorality (including but not limited to; adultery, fornication, homosexual acts, bisexual acts, bestiality, incest, paedophilia, and pornography) is sinful and offensive to God and is destructive to human relationships and society”.
Principal Pastor Brian Mulheran emailed parents on Friday saying the school had included the new clauses in the enrolment contract “to ensure that we retain our Christian ethos, which is the foundation of what has made the College what it is today”.
The contract’s new clauses include the college having the right to “exclude a student from the college” for failing to adhere to the “doctrinal precepts including those as to biological sex”. But, in a statement, Mulheran said, “Citipointe does not judge students on their sexuality or gender identity and we would not make a decision on their enrolment in the college simply on that basis.” He has since apologised and been stood down. But the media coverage of the issue has thrown the passage of the Coalition Religious Discrimination Bill into disarray.
Citipointe College is a private primary and high school in the Brisbane suburb of Carindale. It is one of four Colleges within the Christian Outreach Centre Movement (trading as International Network of Churches (INC)) – a small Pentecostal denomination. The College Board is an Advisory Board responsible through the Committee of Management of Citipointe Church to the National Executive.
ACARA MYSCHOOL WEBSITE INFORMATION:
Enrolment : 1711, 893 boys, 818 girls
ICSEA value: well above average: 1131
Upper 25% parental income: 59%
Second level parental income 29%
Third 25% i.e. below 50% - 10% ( lower middle class )
Lowest 25% - 2%
So really a school with ,many advantaged students, but with 50% speaking a language other than English and no indigenous students.
FINANCES : Recurrent grants: Australian govt : 10.3 Million
Victorian govt: 3.7 m
Fees and parental contributions: 15.2m
Other private contributions : 1.1 m
Per Pupil : $18,216 per pupil
Capital – 19.3 m over three years
These figures do not take into account the myriad taxation expenditures or exemptions enjoyed by private schools in Australia.
DOGS comment
Before the Principal of this school decided to discriminate against children on the basis of his peculiar view of Christianity he should perhaps have considered the relationship of his school with the Australian State and its taxpayers. This relationship, in cool hard financial terms is running at more than half the recurrent and capital costs of this school. In fact, one could go so far as to say that without taxpayer funds this school would have to close.
DOGS believe that if religious institutions may wish to be independent and private enough to discriminate against who should be recipients of their services. But, if they take public funds for the provision of those services, they should not have the right to discriminate against children, parents, teachers or any other employees. Public money should be used for the provision of public services. ANd matters of conscience are a private matter.
