Citipointe Christian College has become the poster child of critics of the low-fee ”Christian schools” movement.
The debate over future Albanese government religious discrimination legislation will feature Citipointe front and centre.
The Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has announced an inquiry by the Australian Law Reform Commission into ” religious exemptions for educational institutions.” This inquiry begins the process to determine what legislation the Albanese Government will bring forward as promised on religious discrimination.
In an early response the Australian Christian Lobby’s National Director of Politics, Wendy Francis said, “the ALRC Terms of Reference released today as part of the process are too narrow as they fail to make provision for schools and faith-based communities to operate according to their core set of values, or ethos – that which sets the tone for the community. A current reading of the Terms of Reference appear to accommodate for the right to ‘build a community of faith’ merely at the time of employment.” At the very least this indicates an unease from conservative Christians that schools may lose some rights they previously had.
Mark Spencer from Christian Schools Australia wants to know what the government is planning “Alongside addressing the long overdue need to provide clarity and certainty in this area, we are calling on the Government to release draft Religious Discrimination legislation as soon as possible,” Mr Spencer said, “we saw earlier this year that Parliament is unlikely to pass legislation that provides only part of the solution.”
This week Grace Grace, the Queensland Education Minister announced “a comprehensive independent review of the accreditation framework used for non-state schools in Queensland.”
The terms of reference include “consideration of other legislation and/or government policies, for example, in relation to privacy and human rights that may inform elements of an accreditation framework.”
The inquiry will consider “how the accreditation framework can support a quality, contemporary non-state schooling sector in Queensland.”
Christian school advocates might consider whether “contemporary” is code for current diversity policies, particularly around the LGBTQIA community.
These issues were also highlighted this week in the ABC’s “Australian Story” report ‘losing faith’ on the story of students Emmey Leo and Felicity Myers who found the school a “harsh environment”.
Emmey now identifies as a transgender woman, and Felicity was a lesbian student.
“I think that Emmey presenting to the formal in a dress really pushed [school principal] Brian Mulheran to step up for what he saw as flying the flag for his Christian faith and the Christian faith of the school,” Emmey’s mother Janina told the program.
Joined by other ex-students, protests about a parental contract introduced by Mulheran went viral, influencing the religious discrimination debate in the last weeks of the Morrison government. “I think the Citipointe story had a profound impact on the conscience of many of my colleagues in the coalition party room,” former MP Trent Zimmerman tells the program.
The Australian Story format tends to follow someone campaigning on an issue. So while Mark Spencer of Christian Schools Australia is interviewed, the story’s weight is on the campaigning students and parents. Technically Geraldine Doogue who introduces the program is correct when she says they “talked to both sides.” But to concentrate on one person or group’s journey is simply the genre of the program, which is not a news report although produced by the ABC’s news division, but more like an opinion piece in print terms.
Australian Story makes clear that Citipointe enrolled students from families whose expectations of the school were more liberal than the contract Mulheran brought in this year. It is also true that despite making some moves towards the demands of the dissenting students and their parents such as allowing Emmey Leo to wear a dress to the school formal, the issue is now broader than whether schools can expel LGBTQIA students, which is where the debate under Morrison centred.
A third element in the Citipointe story is discrimination complaints lodged with the Queensland Human Rights Commission. In a press conference quoted in Australian Story, Grace Grace is quoted “The Human Rights Commissioner has warned the school that you cannot contract out of your legally binding anti-discrimination laws in this state.”
Citipointe’s contracts
The legal mechanics used by Citipointe are under pressure.
The parental contract that Citipointe attempted to impose and withdrew in the heat of the controversy included “The college will only enrol the student on the basis of the gender that corresponds to their biological sex.”
The college asked parents to agree that transgender students should withdraw.
“Whilst each student is individually valued and equally encouraged to pursue opportunities in both academic and co-curricular activities, 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”
“Failure to agree to the terms will ‘afford Citipointe Christian College the right to exclude a student from the College who no longer adheres to the College’s doctrinal precepts including those as to biological sex…'”
Also included were the statements of faith from the church network International Christian Churches, founded as the Christian Outreach Centre, that are typical of conservative Christianity.
“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.”
The Guardian reports that Citipointe issued new teacher contracts earlier in 2022 that “requires teachers to work within the same statement of faith of the International Network of Churches, the umbrella group that ultimately controls the Citipointe megachurch and school.
“’It is a genuine occupational requirement of the college that the employee not act in a way he knows, or ought reasonably to know, is contrary to the religious beliefs of the college,’”’ the document says.
“’Nothing in his/her deliberate conduct should be incompatible with the intrinsic character of their position, especially, but not only, in relation to the expression of human sexuality through heterosexual, monogamous relationships, expressed intimately through marriage.’
“’Your failure to abide by such requirements expressed in the above clauses could constitute a breach of your employment contract and subsequent dismissal.’”
It is likely that both sorts of contracts will be addressed as the Albanese Government prepares its legislation.
The person in the right-hand prew
In debates within Christian communities, there is an understandable tendency to make sure we include everyone. That has the effect, perhaps an unfortunate effect, of giving undue attention to the people at the extremes, right or left.
Citipointe occupies the right-hand pew in Christian schooling.
The two separate issues of what a school can teach and the expulsion or discipline of LGBTQIA students are conflated at Citipointe.
The school simply sought to ban transgender students. However, the story of Emmey Leo told on Australian Story hows the school did take steps to accommodate her even to the point, after discussion, of wearing a dress to the School formal.
Other sexual minority students have said that the principal told them time and again they were sinful. Beyond simply teaching Christianity, Citipointe engaged in moral police work.
“In March of 2019, that was my graduating year, I posted a photo of me kissing a girl on my private social media account,” A student told Australian Story. “I was called in and extensively questioned about like, my love life and I was forced to admit that I had made this mistake. My parents were informed. I still, I still wasn’t ready to come out. I just lost focus on my studies.”
When the person in the right hand pew gets attacked it is a natural response for people who may not agree 100% with the details of their viewpoint to rally to defend their rights.
On Australian Story Mark Spencer from Christian Schools Australia defended the Christian Schools movement. He does a good job, pointing out the desire of schools to be free to teach Christianity. However, Christian Schools Australia, if pressed is unlikely to defend everything that Citipointe did.
That would include adopting a more conservative parental contract a few weeks before the start of the school year, a move which was bound to cause a reaction, especially from parents of students who were entering year 12.
The Albanese dilemma
The ALP policy is that the government will
“• prevent discrimination against people of faith, including anti-vilification protections;
• act to protect all students from discrimination on any grounds;
• protect teachers from discrimination at work, whilst maintaining the right of religious schools to preference people of their faith in the selection of staff.”
In their dissenting report to the Senate inquiry into religious discrimination, the Labor senators also said “Labor strongly affirms the right of faith‑based educational institutions to uphold their ethos. Schools can with the passing of this legislation continue to be assured that the ethos and values of their schools are respected and protected.”
This policy could be interpreted in several ways. Labor has left itself wriggle room in a way that perhaps the Coalition might look back and think they should have. But a charitable interpretation, certainly from a Christian Schools’ perspective is to assume ‘ethos’ includes teaching a conservative view of sexuality where that is the faith stance of the school or denomination.
Crafting laws and regulations that hold these principles together will be difficult.
Suggestions
When the debate resumes, it will be a given that expelling LGBTQIA students is not allowed. The debate will have moved on. School networks say this does not happen. Schools like Citipointe, and other outliers who have reserved the right to expel students will have to retreat on this.
The debate instead will centre on what constitutes discrimination against students. Can students identify as LGBTQIA in class discussions? in the playground? Can they meet as a gay group?
For transgender students many quite conservative schools have at least unisex toilets, and have worked out change room solutions.
Any compromise will displease both sides. For schools to teach conservative Christian doctrine is too far for progressives. For conservative Christians, making accommodations for LGBTQIA students to assert their identity will be too far.
Both will have to give ground.
On staff, the ALP policy will be to allow schools to preference people of faith. “Preference” may not mean to have absolutely everyone one employed in the school a person of faith. For example, it may apply to teaching staff only. Maybe a quota of teachers? This works informally in the Sydney Anglican schools which are evangelical.
Breaking into the “Christians only” hiring practices of some schools will cause great pain to them. They truly see themselves as forming a Christian community, particularly those founded as “‘”parent-controlled.”
The dilemma for them is having opened up enrolment to non-Christians has created the potential for a Citipointe-style clash. This can be seen as a tradeoff between growth and identity. Only a handful of schools have a rigorous Christian-families-only policy.
But the difficulties of dealing with LGBTQIA students and parents who will naturally advocate for them will also even apply in those schools.
Perhaps the reality is that the social license for Christian schooling is under threat. There are some schools that have made a distinctive contribution to wider society. Here are two good examples, and there are others. Pacific Hills Christian School has a network of campuses that cater for students with moderate intellectual delay and a school serving the the Torres Strait first nations.
Barker College in Sydney is a high-fee school partnering with Aboriginal Communities with campuses as far away as Gunyangara in North East Arnhem.
Key to both schools extensive social license has been visionary heads of school, Ted Boyce and Phillip Heath.
Christians are privileged to have a massive involvement in education in this country. As Mark Spencer told the Australian Story audience, Australia is unique among Western nations in this. To have a healthy future Christian schools like Barker and Pacific Hills are leading the way in how to serve wider society.
Correction. An earlier version of this story said in error that Citipointe was part of CCM, Chrostian Community Ministries.
Image: Citipointe campus by Swadge