Christian Youth Camps Ltd v Cobaw Community Health Services Ltd – Dec 2014

Cobaw Community Health Services lodged a complaint of discrimination against Christian Youth Camps on the basis that the organisation had refused to allow Cobaw’s suicide prevention support group for same-sex attracted young people to run a two-day program at its Phillip Island youth camp.

Christian Youth Camps acknowledged that the reason access was denied was that the gathering was intended to affirm same-sex attraction, which would be contrary to their religious beliefs and principles.

The complaint was unable to be conciliated and was referred to VCAT. VCAT found in favour of Cobaw Community Health Services and this decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal and High Court. The Commission made submissions at VCAT, in the Court of Appeal and in the High Court.

In deciding whether there had been unlawful discrimination under the Equal Opportunity Act and whether the religious exceptions under the Act applied, her Honour Judge Hampel considered the interaction between the rights in the Charter and the prohibition on discrimination in the Act.

When interpreting the religious exceptions under the Act, Judge Hampel found it was necessary to consider their purpose of protecting religious freedoms in a manner consistent with the rights in section 14 of the Charter (the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief), section 15 of the Charter (the right to freedom of expression) and section 8 of the Charter (the right to equality and freedom from discrimination).

In this way, VCAT did not privilege one right over the other; rather, it recognised their co-existence. After using this interpretive approach, Judge Hampel found that Christian Youth Camps had discriminated against Cobaw Community Health Services by refusing to provide services and accommodation on the basis of the sexual orientation of the proposed attendees. The religious exception provisions of the Equal Opportunity Act were not found to apply based on the evidence in this case.

Christian Youth Camps appealed VCAT’s decision that it unlawfully discriminated against a group of same-sex attracted youth by denying them use of a camp. The Commission was a party to the original proceedings and continued its intervention in this matter on appeal .

In the Court of Appeal, the Commission made submissions on the proper interpretation of the religious exceptions in the Equal Opportunity Act compatibly with the human rights to equality and freedom of religion in the Charter; namely that the Charter requires a narrow interpretation of the religious exceptions.

The Court dismissed the appeal and found that VCAT had not erred at law in finding that Christian Youth Camps had unlawfully discriminated against Cobaw and the group of same-sex attracted young people. The decision provides some important guidance from the Court of Appeal on the ‘religious freedom’ exceptions in sections 75 and 77 of the Equal Opportunity Act 1995, which have been carried over into the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (sections 82 and 84, although section 84 has since been repealed).

Christian Youth Camps brought an application for special leave to the High Court. It was concerned with a question of statutory construction regarding the repealed Equal Opportunity Act 1995 (Vic). This application questioned whether certain sections of the Act apply to corporations or just to natural persons.

The Commission intervened to offer submissions on why the special leave should not be granted. The Commission argued that the special leave to appeal did not involve a question of law of public importance nor did the administration of justice require consideration by the High Court.

The High Court refused the special leave to appeal. The Court was not persuaded that the matter was appropriate for a grant of special leave or that the interests of the administration of justice required a grant of special leave to appeal.

View the VCAT decision here: Cobaw Community Health Services v Christian Youth Camps [2010] VCAT 1613

View the Court of Appeal decision here: Christian Youth Camps Ltd v Cobaw Community Health Services Ltd [2014] VSCA 75

View the High Court special leave application decision here: Christian Youth Camps Limited v Cobaw Community Health Services Limited and Ors [2014] HCATrans 289