A Catholic agency may have to stop arranging adoptions if a Victorian bill that allows same-sex couples to jointly adopt children becomes law.
Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart and CatholicCare have called for protection for faith-based groups that do not want to give adoption services to same-sex couples.
But, under the Victorian government’s bill, faith-based groups will not be granted exemptions to refuse services to same-sex couples seeking to adopt.
A CatholicCare submission stated it risked breaching equal opportunity laws if it declined to provide adoption services to people based on sexual orientation.
“Adoption is about the best interests of the child, not about the rights for same-sex couples. It is not just or fair to impose such an agenda on adopted children,” the submission said.