The school has advised parents to either sign the contract, or unenroll their child/children from the school.

The contract states in its Declaration Of Faith that “we believe that any form of sexual immorality (including but not limited to; adultery, fornication, homosexual acts, bisexual acts, bestiality, incest, paedophilia, and pornography) is sinful and offensive to God and is destructive to human relationships and society”.

Since going public with the contract, Citipointe Principal Pastor Brian Mulheran has released a statement (30 January) assuring parents that “Citipointe does not judge students on their sexuality or gender identity” and that we are all equal and should be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect and dignity”, but also that the Church believes in the teachings of the bible which hold that “marriage was instituted by God as between a man and a woman and which do not distinguish between gender and biological sex”.

The mixed messages (some would argue that listing homosexual/bisexual acts as destructive to human relationships and society is a judgement on students who fall into those categories) have received backlash online, some questioning the legality of this contract and whether expelling students for identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender is allowed under the law.

Principal Brian Mulheran says in the statement that “certain freedoms under international law and under Commonwealth and state legislation” have allowed the contract to reflect the school’s beliefs and practices.

Branch Secretary Terry Burke of Independent Education Union – Queensland And Northern Territory (IEU-QNT) – which represents more than 17,000 teachers and staff in Queensland non-government schools – says the Anti-Discrimination Act does not allow Citipointe to refuse enrolment on the basis of gender identity or sexuality.

“This means if the college were to expel, discipline or otherwise treat a student unfavourably because of these characteristics, this would be unlawful discrimination in Queensland,” Terry says.

“Trying to avoid anti-discrimination laws by asking parents and/or students to agree to discriminatory terms in a ‘contract’ is beyond shameful and rejected by our union.”

Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace has deemed the contract “unacceptable”, and says the issue has been referred to the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board.

A Change.org petition for Citipointe to recall its amended enrolment contract has reached more than 116,000 signatures in three days.