The Nov 1 court ruling, which permits church-affiliated agencies the right to provide social services in a manner that does not violate their religious principles, has drawn praise from Anglican and Roman Catholic leaders, who argue the country’s anti-discrimination laws have been used to attack religion. An administrative appellate tribunal held the Wesley Mission’s foster care agency was not obligated to accept a gay couple as foster parents, overturning a lower court ruling that forbad the Wesley Mission from using religious or ethical criteria in selecting those whom it would engage as foster parents.

A same-sex couple brought suit against the Wesley Mission after the agency denied their application to foster a child because they were homosexuals. An Administrative Tribunal found in favor of the two men, awarding them £5500 in damages, and ordering the agency to amend its selection criteria so as not to discriminate against homosexuals.

On appeal, the ruling was reversed and sent back to the lower court for a re-hearing. Presiding Magistrate Nancy Hennessy instructed the lower court to take into account the religious sensibilities of Wesleyanism, and whether the agency would be obligated to reject the same-sex couple in order to be faithful to its beliefs.

Anglican and Catholic leaders applauded the decision. Sydney’s Cardinal George Pell told the Sydney Daily Telegraph that “it is important to protect people from unjust discrimination but it is ridiculous to claim discrimination every time we show a preference for some people over others.

"Anti-discrimination laws should not be used to change how church agencies organise themselves,” he said.

On Oct 21 Cardinal Pell led a delegation of 20 church leaders to Canberra to meet with Attorney General Robert McCelland to protest against plans to introduce a national charter of human rights. Writing in The Australian, Cardinal Pell said a charter would be used by anti-religious zealots to attack religious schools, hospitals and charities.

"If these protections are to be revised, it should be done by MPs answerable to the people, not by judges or human rights commissars," Cardinal Pell said. Unable to attend the Canberra meeting due to a meeting of the Diocese of Sydney’s synod, Archbishop Peter Jensen told The Australian he backed Cardinal Pell.

"We strongly support human rights, but we don't think a charter such as this is necessary or even effective in protecting the rights of the most vulnerable people in our community. It may in all likelihood make things worse, particularly in the area of religious freedom," Dr Jensen said.

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