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The High Court has issued few judgements in direct relation to freedom of religion. There have been few tests involving religious freedom put before the High Court of Australia. Judgements from the Court are generally considered to interpret the primary piece of legislation relating to religious freedom, Section 116, narrowly. [20]
Section 116 of the Constitution of Australia precludes the Commonwealth of Australia (i.e., the federal parliament) from making laws for establishing any religion, imposing any religious observance, or prohibiting the free exercise of any religion. Section 116 also provides that no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any ...
In 1998 the HREOC addressed the right to freedom of religion and belief in Australia against article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, stating that "despite the legal protections that apply in different jurisdictions, many Australians suffer discrimination on the basis of religious belief or non-belief, including ...
The Constitution of Australia prevents the Commonwealth from establishing any religion or requiring a religious test for any office:— . Ch 5 § 116 The Commonwealth shall not make any law for 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 ...
The proportion of Australian respondents to the World Values Survey saying religion is "Not at all important" to them has increased from 19% in 1994-98 to 37% in 2010-2014 [36] A Roy Morgan survey of 4,840 Australians between October and December 2013 found that 52.6% of Australians were Christian, while 37.6% had no religion. [ 37 ]
The preamble names all states except Western Australia, mentions God and recognises that the Australian people have agreed to unite under the Constitution. It ends with the standard enacting clause of the United Kingdom , acknowledging the Queen and the UK houses of Parliament as the legal authority of the act.
Aboriginal Australian religious practices associated with the Dreamtime have been practised for tens of thousands of years. Australia has no official state religion and the Australian Constitution prohibits the Commonwealth government from establishing a church or interfering with the freedom of religion. [140]
Christianity is the largest religion in Australia, with a total of 43.9% of the nation-wide population identifying with a Christian denomination in the 2021 census. The first presence of Christianity in Australia began with British colonisation in what came to be known as New South Wales in 1788.