Victorians can now breathe a sigh of relief with the Andrews government relenting on its grab for controversial detention powers in its COVID-19 Omnibus Bill.

Regional Victoria is beginning to return to some semblance of normal life as restrictions ease. Restaurants, pubs and shops are reopening. School and sport are resuming. Sadly, what remain locked down are our churches.

The Victorian Government’s restrictions on churches and other faith groups are a disproportionate response to the COVID-19 risk and amount to religious discrimination, the Australian Christian Lobby said on Friday.

The Andrews government’s first injecting room in North Richmond has brought a host of social problems, particularly during COVID-19.

For many years, Victorian public school students been supported by qualified Christian chaplains who provide spiritual and emotional advice and counsel.

State Parliament may only be sitting occasionally due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that has not dissuaded Reason Party Leader Fiona Patten MLC from slipping a bill into the Upper House targeting student spiritual support through school chaplains. The bill claims to ‘deal with religious privilege and uphold secular values.’

The Andrews government’s rainbow manifesto or ‘whole of government LGBTIQ Strategy’ applies baseless pressure on schools and churches, the Australian Christian Lobby said in its submission to the public consultation which closed yesterday.

The Andrews government is right now creating a more aggressive rainbow manifesto and should dump it, the Australian Christian Lobby said today. 

ACL congratulates the Melbourne City Council for rejecting the Andrews government’s proposal to establish drug injecting room near the Queen Victoria Market.

The Australian Christian Lobby has been warning that brothels do not protect vulnerable women and children. The Melbourne Magistrates Court heard evidence on Friday of a 16 year old child allegedly prostituted in Heidelberg for $100, highlighting the depraved depths some brothels will go.