So far over 170,000 signatures have been collected calling on politicians to "protect all young Australians, including lesbian, gay bi, and trans people."
"Don't pass any form of the budget that contains funding for religious groups to take the place of qualified mental health professionals or social workers in schools," the petition reads. All Out aims to gather 200,000 signatures.
In last month's Budget announcement, Education Minister Christopher Pyne revealed that a total of $243.8 million will be made available over four years for 2900 schools to engage a chaplain.
The largest provider of school chaplains, Scripture Union Queensland, recently defended the chaplaincy program before the High Court for a second time after an attempt by a Toowoomba resident to prevent funding. The decision is yet to be handed down.
The National School Chaplaincy Program is set to replace the existing National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program from January 1, 2015.