Religion in Australia - Constitutional Status

Constitutional Status

The Australian constitution consists of several documents, including the Statute of Westminster and the Australia Act of 1986, but there is only one reference to religion in the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, signed into law in 1900. Notably, the constitution does not include a Bill Of Rights and, as a result, Australia's fundamental law has been criticized for its lack of explicit protection for several rights and freedoms. However, Section 116 of the 1900 Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia (Australian Constitution) provides that:

The Commonwealth of Australia shall not make any law establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.

Technically, this article does not affect the states' authority to legislate on religion, nor would it block federal legislation on religion aside from that establishing an official religion of Australia. In practice, though, the government respects these rights and contributes to the generally free practice of religion.

In 1983, the High Court of Australia defined religion as a complex of beliefs and practices which point to a set of values and an understanding of the meaning of existence. The ABS 2001 Census Dictionary defines "No Religion" as a category of religion which has subcategories such as agnosticism, atheism, Humanism and rationalism.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) is able to inquire into allegations of discrimination on religious grounds.

HREOC's 1998 addressing the human right to freedom of religion and belief in Australia against article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stated that despite the legal protections that apply in different jurisdictions, many Australians suffer discrimination on the basis of religious belief or non-belief, including members of both mainstream and non-mainstream religions, and those of no religious persuasion.

Many non-Christian adherents have complained to HREOC that the dominance of traditional Christianity in civic life has the potential to marginalise large numbers of Australian citizens. An example of an HREOC response to such views is the IsmaU project, which examines possible racial prejudice against Muslims in Australia since the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US, and the Bali bombings.