Australia is considering new legislation concerning freedom of religious expression following the firing of Israel Folau.

The rugby star was sacked following a post made to his social media which commented on various types of sinners, stating "hell awaits" those who are "drunks, homosexuals, adulterers," and others.

Following the Instagram post, the Wallabies player saw his contract terminated for being in breach of Rugby Australia's Professional Players' Code of Conduct.

The introduction of the new bill to legislation would make it possible for Australians to express their religious views at any time outside of their workplace providing their employers suffer no financial damage, reports Premier.

A draft of the bill was released last week.

Christian Porter, Attorney General for Australia, expressed his support for the new law, saying: "Australia has a strong anti-discrimination framework with specific protections for people against discrimination on the basis of their age, sex, race and disability ... This draft bill released today extends those protections to provide protection for people against discrimination on the basis of their religion or religious belief, or lack thereof."

Particulars of the bill state that a business with a turnover of more than $50 million would not be able to limit the religious expression of an individual outside of the workplace without proving "unjustifiable financial hardship to the business." As a result, businesses will need to prove the necessity of limiting an employee's freedom of speech to prevent such financial hardship.

If unable to do so, actions by the business would be considered discriminatory towards an employee.

The law, however, does not allow for malicious religious expressions or those which incite hatred to be protected.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community are criticizing the new legislation proposed, calling the law "radical," and claiming it will give more power to religious groups. They also say it will allow for discrimination to occur.

Folau is currently in the process of pursuing legal avenues for unlawful termination against Rugby Australia and the New South Wales Waratahs club. His case is expected to be tried in February 2020. Since his firing and launching his case earlier this year, the athlete has received tremendous support both personally and financially from the faith community.

The new freedom of religious expression bill is expected to be introduced into parliament next month.