Religious discrimination bill will not protect trans students from expulsion, Simon Birmingham confirms

The Morrison government will seek to protect gay students from expulsion without protecting trans students at the same time, a senior minister has revealed.

Birmingham told Radio National the Australian Law Reform Commission would continue to examine the issue of discrimination on the basis of gender identity, meaning a delay of at least a further 12 months after the religious discrimination bill passes.

The religious discrimination bill is set to return to parliament on Tuesday and the prime minister is pushing for a vote that will probably require Labor support to pass, given divisions in the Liberal party over the bill.

On Friday Labor MPs and senators on two committees joined the government in calling for the bill to pass after a series of minor and technical changes, but is yet to finalise its position, citing the need to scrutinise amendments.

Although Liberal MP Angie Bell has said removal of the religious exemption to the SDA would be enough to win her vote, it is unclear whether excluding trans students will imperil a deal with her and three other MPs, Fiona Martin, Katie Allen and Dave Sharma.