After foreshadowing she would cross the floor on the bill in its current form, Ms Archer delivered a speech to Parliament on Tuesday evening that raised serious concerns about the impact of the Morrison government's legislation.

Particular concern was given to the government's move to exclude transgender students from extra protections being added to the sex discrimination act, in an attempt to win enough votes to pass the bill.

READ MORE:

Ms Archer said she could not see the "problem" that the government was trying to solve with its religious discrimination bill, that it went further than simply protecting people of faith and would leave Tasmanians with fewer protections.

"This bill takes away these discrimination protections that have been in place for almost a quarter of a century, explicitly overriding our state's incredibly robust laws," she said.

"I would not be doing my job as a representative for the people of Tasmania, and specifically the Northern electorate of Bass, if I were to support this override.

"I'm not prepared to stand by and see our state laws eroded to privilege one group over another."

Opposition to the Morrison government's bill has been bipartisan in Tasmanian state politics, including concerns raised by the Gutwein government, Labor opposition and the Greens.

The Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Unions Tasmania wrote a combined piece opposing the laws, and a school teacher at a Tasmanian Catholic school also wrote of their opposition.

Each argued that Tasmania's laws had been providing adequate protection since they were introduced following the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

Ms Archer said the attempt to exclude transgender children from proposed extra protections was also concerning.

"Whilst I'm very pleased to see that there would be an amendment to protect gay students, I'm horrified to see that it doesn't extend to children who identify as transgender," she said.

"More than horrified, I'm utterly distressed by this exclusion so I can't begin to think how the children themselves or their parents feel."

Ms Archer concluded by saying she could not support the bill in its current form.

Debate is continuing on Wednesday.

Bass Labor candidate Ross Hart - who lost the seat by just a few hundred votes in 2019 - said he would have expressed similar reservations as Ms Archer in Parliament and in the Labor caucus as part of the debate.

He cited Labor Whitlam MHR Stephen Jones' speech as clearly defining his own views on the religious discrimination bill. Mr Jones urged that the bill not be rushed through Parliament, paying tribute to his nephew who was gay and took his own life.

Mr Hart said the risks of getting the legislation wrong were far too great.

"I'm really concerned about the fact that there is outrage expressed on both sides of the argument where Stephen Jones spoke with clarity. If we need to address this matter, we need to get it right," he said.

"If there are any concerns about people being left out, whether faith communities or transgender, LGBTIQ communities, then caution demands that you stay the debate, that you deal with it properly, that you get this right.

"If you were dealing with something trivial then fine, you might be able to fix it later, but we're dealing with people's lives and I would never want somebody to feel that the Parliament through that they were expendable."

Mr Hart agreed with Ms Archer's comments about the laws overriding Tasmania's own laws.