Sikh Queenslanders allowed to carry ceremonial knives in schools after court ruling (original) (raw)

Carrying knives in public places and schools in Queensland was subject to a blanket ban — until this week.

Key points:

• A Supreme Court appeal has ruled that Sikhs may carrying a Kirpan for religious reasons
• The religion requires Sikh people to carry five objects at all times, including the ceremonial knife
• Judges said their decision was not about overturning bans on children carrying knives

The Queensland Supreme Court has ruled that the ban is unconstitutional under the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA).

Australian Sikh woman Kamaljit Kaur Athwal took the state government to court last year, claiming the Weapons Act discriminated against the carrying of her religion's ceremonial sword, the Kirpan.

For religious reasons, a Sikh person must carry five objects with them at all times as religious markers of identity.

One of those is the silver bangle, or Kara, and another is the Kirpan.

In essence, Ms Athwal argued that the law prohibiting knives barred Sikhs from entering school grounds, which contravened the RDA.

Lawyer Claire Coles, who represented Ms Athwal, said the court had a difficult task "to balance the human rights of individuals to practice their religion and express their faith with the human rights of student and teacher safety".

"[Ms Athwal] is very pleased with the court's decision," she said.

"For too long legislation prevented practising Sikhs from participating in their school communities.

"Today marks the day that members of the Sikh faith can practice their faith and positively participate without discrimination as proud members of their local school communities."

What did the court find?

An initial court ruling by a single judge last year dismissed the suggestion that the ban on carrying knives was discriminatory.

But this week, three judges in the Court of Appeal (a division of the Supreme Court) handed down a decision overturning this ruling.

The Supreme Court in Queensland overturned the judgement. (ABC News: Giulio Saggin)

They found that a section of the Queensland Weapons Act of 1990 — which bans carrying knives in public places and schools — is inconsistent with Section 10 of the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act of 1975.

The final ruling was that Section 51(5) of the Weapons Act is invalid under Section 109 of the constitution.

Can people carry knives in schools now?

Yes, but only for religious reasons.

In this the Court of Appeal ruling, the judges specifically said their decision was not about overturning bans on children carrying knives.

The decision that allows Sikhs to legally enter a school carrying the Kirpan does not overturn a school's right to ban anyone else, such as students, from carrying a knife on school grounds.

In response, the Queensland Education Department said it is considering the implications of the court decision.

It also outlined the current rules that cover weapons and prohibited items:

"To ensure Queensland state schools remain safe places for people to work and learn, students are banned from bringing a range of items to school. This includes objects or items that:

• are prohibited by a school identified, for example, in the school's student code of conduct;
• put the safety or wellbeing of others at risk; and/or
• do not preserve a caring, safe, supportive or productive learning environment

"School staff have the authority to temporarily remove student property that disrupts classes, endangers staff or students, is illegal, or being used inappropriately," a department spokesperson said.

"As this legal decision has just been handed down, the department will now consider any implications."

What are the rules?

The decision found: "This appeal does not raise the question of the impact (if any) … on the ability of school authorities to adopt general rules such as prohibiting all children from bringing any knives to school."

Independent schools, as the name suggests, operate independently and thus could potentially make their own decisions based on the implications of the latest court ruling.

A spokesman for the Independent Schools Queensland said safety is the focus.

"All independent schools create policies at an individual school level in accordance with appropriate legislation and do so with the safety and wellbeing of their students at the fore," he said.

"This would also be the case for any policy regarding the carrying of any weapon on school grounds."

There are also some other obvious exemptions to having knives in schools, such as operating a tuck shop or a cooking class.