Religious believers in Australia will be protected from being sued if they make anti-gay comments, under a proposed law that Scott Morrison, the prime minister, said would guard against “cancel culture”.

Religious freedom has been in the spotlight since Australia legalised same-sex marriage in 2017, when some churches and other groups felt they were sidelined.

The Religious Discrimination Bill, put before parliament on Thursday, also comes after high profile cases in which believers have been “cancelled” for expressing anti-gay views.

Critics say it will legalise discimination against other groups.

“People should not be cancelled or persecuted or vilified because their beliefs are different from someone else’s,” Mr Morrison, a Pentecostal Christian, said as he introduced the bill to the lower house.

“Australians shouldn’t have to worry about looking over their shoulder, fearful of offending an anonymous person on Twitter or transgressing against political or social zeitgeists,” he added.

If the law is approved, Australians would be able to make “statements of belief” without fear of being sued, as long as those comments do not “threaten, intimidate, harass or vilify a person or group”.

Equality Australia, an LGBT rights group, told ABC this week: “When… a nurse says to a patient with HIV that their HIV is a punishment by God, for example…[that] could constitute a statement of belief, would be protected under the law under this bill.”

Cases such as the 2019 sacking of Wallabies rugby player Israel Folau, who had said on social media that “hell awaits”, sparked national debate over freedom of speech.