Australian court overturns ban on Sikhs wearing kirpan in schools

Sikh students can now wear kirpan, a religious article in Sikhism, in schools in Australia’s Queensland state, thanks to a court ruling.

The Queensland court has overturned a law that banned Sikh students from wearing on campus, calling the legislation “unconstitutional”, media reports say.

The ruling by the state’s highest court came after Kamaljit Kaur Athwal took the state government to court last year, claiming the ban discriminated against the kirpan.

The kirpan is one of five religious symbols that Sikhs are supposed to carry at all times as part of their faith, 9news.com reported.

The Queensland Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that “the ban is unconstitutional under the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA),” the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) reported.

An initial court ruling dismissed the claim the act was discriminatory but now there has been a win for the Sikh faith.

Praise for ruling

Bill Potts from Potts Lawyers Queensland said the original legislation meant Sikhs “were not able to go to school, not able to go to effectively carry out their religion”.

Potts said the overturning of the law is giving freedom back to those practising the faith and is a “great step forward”.

Carrying a kirpan as a symbol of a religious commitment would, at least ordinarily, constitute a use of the knife for a lawful purpose namely, religious observance, the court found.

A law which prohibits a person from carrying a knife in a school for religious purposes impacts Sikhs by preventing them from lawfully entering schools while adhering to their religious beliefs, the court observed.

But the judges specifically said their decision was not about overturning bans on children carrying knives.

The Queensland Education Department said it was considering the implications of the court decision.

Sikh population

Australian Sikhs number over 210,000 and account for 0.8 per cent of the country’s population, according to 2021 statistics. They form Australia’s fifth largest religious group.

The largest Sikh populations in Australia are found in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

(With agency reports)