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Separation Of Church And State In Australia
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 public trust under the Commonwealth.'' The language is derived from the United States' constitution, but has been altered. Following the usual practice of the High Court, it has been interpreted far more narrowly than the equivalent US sections and no law has ever been struck down for contravening the section. Today, the Commonwealth Government provides broad-based funding to religious schools and also funds school chaplains for public and private schools. All Australian parliaments are opened with a Christian prayer, and the preamble to the Australian Constitution refers to a "humbl rel anceo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constitution Of Australia
The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a Federation of Australia, federation under a Monarchy of Australia, constitutional monarchy governed with a parliamentary system. Its eight chapters set down the structure and powers of the three constituent parts of the federal level of government: the Parliament of Australia, Parliament, the Australian Government, Executive Government and the Judiciary of Australia, Judicature. The Constitution was drafted between 1891 and 1898 at a series of Constitutional Convention (Australia), conventions conducted by representatives of the six self-governing British colonies in Australia: New South Wales, Victoria (state), Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. This final draft was then approved by each state in a 1898–1900 Australian const ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catholic Church In Australia
The Catholic Church in Australia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual and administrative leadership of the Holy See. From origins as a suppressed, mainly Irish minority in early colonial times, the church has grown to be the largest Christian denomination in Australia, with a culturally diverse membership of around 5,075,907 people, representing about 20% of the overall population of Australia according to the 2021 ABS Census data. The church is the largest non-government provider of welfare and education services in Australia. Catholic Social Services Australia aids some 450,000 people annually, while the St Vincent de Paul Society's 40,000 members form the largest volunteer welfare network in the country. In 2016, the church had some 760,000 students in more than 1,700 schools. The church in Australia has five provinces: Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. It has 35 dioceses, comprising geographic areas as well as the military dio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republicanism In Australia
Republicanism in Australia is a movement to change Australia's system of government from a constitutional monarchy to a republic; presumably, a form of parliamentary republic that would replace the monarch of Australia (currently King Charles III) with a non-royal Australian head of state. It is opposed to monarchism in Australia. Republicanism was first espoused in Australia before Federation in 1901. After a period of decline following Federation, the movement again became prominent at the end of the 20th century after successive legal and socio-cultural changes loosened Australia's ties with the United Kingdom. In a referendum held in 1999, Australian voters rejected a proposal to establish a republic with a parliamentary appointed head of state. This was despite polls showing a majority of Australians supported a republic in principle for some years before the vote. Republicanism is officially supported by the Labor Party and the Greens. It is supported by some membe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reason Party (Australia)
Reason Australia, commonly referred to as the Reason Party or as simply Reason, was an List of political parties in Australia, Australian political party. Its leader, Fiona Patten, described the party as a "civil libertarian alternative". Patten was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council as at the 2018 Victorian state election, 2018 state election in the Northern Metropolitan Region, after formerly being elected as a Sex Party member for the same seat in 2014 Victorian state election, 2014. However, she lost re-election in 2022 Victorian state election, 2022. Reason was registered at the state level in Victoria and New South Wales, as well as with the Australian Electoral Commission at the federal level. The party was disbanded in March 2024. Patten subsequently joined Legalise Cannabis Australia. History In August 2017, Fiona Patten announced the launch of a new political party called Reason Australia, in part born from a merger of the Australian Sex Party and the Aus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Secular Lobby
The National Secular Lobby is an Australian pro-secular organisation, founded in July 2017 and officially launched in January 2018. It aims to promote secular principles and the separation of church and state in Australia. The National Secular Lobby combines the building of grassroots awareness and action with the direct lobbying of parliamentarians by high profile ambassadors. It has made submissions to various parliamentary inquiries, including the Religious Freedom Review (2018), the 2021 Census Topic Review (2018), and the Parliamentary Prayers Inquiry (2018). In 2023, the National Secular Lobby was one of the groups (along with the NSW Teachers Federation, Rationalist Society of Australia and Humanists Victoria) who co-organised and co-sponsored the inaugural Secularism Australia Conference. Ambassadors Current National Secular Lobby ambassadors are: * Phillip Adams * Van Badham * Lazaras Panayiotou * Julian Burnside * Jane Caro * Fiona Patten * Chris Schacht * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irreligion In Australia
Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, rationalism, secularism, and non-religious spirituality. These perspectives can vary, with individuals who identify as irreligious holding diverse beliefs about religion and its role in their lives. Relatively little scholarly research was published on irreligion until around the year 2010. Overview Over the past several decades, the number of secular persons has increased, with a rapid rise in the early 21st century, in many countries. In virtually every high-income country and many poor countries, religion has declined. Highly secular societies tend to be societally healthy and successful. Social scientists have predicted declines in religious beliefs and their replacement with more scientific/naturalistic outlooks (secularization hypot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fusion Party (Australia)
FUSION , Planet Rescue , Whistleblower Protection , Innovation previously known as Fusion: Science, Pirate, Secular, Climate Emergency, commonly known as Fusion Party Australia or simply Fusion (sometimes stylised in all caps), is an Australian political party. It was created by the merging of the Science Party, Pirate Party, Secular Party, Vote Planet, and Climate Change Justice Party. Formation The party was formed in 2021 following the passing of the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Party Registration Integrity) Bill 2021 to amend the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. The effects of the legislation included increasing the minimum membership requirement for non-parliamentary parties from 500 to 1,500 unique members and new party naming rules, in order to " nsurethere exists a genuine base of community support for political parties and reduce the risk of voter confusion". Climate Emergency Action Alliance: Vote Planet remained registered for federal elections and undert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Politics In Australia
Christian democracy of the type found in Europe never gained a strong presence in Australia. While sectarianism was an important factor in Australian politics in the early 20th century it was only a single element in political divisions at the time, with Roman Catholics along with the Irish tending to be drawn towards the left-wing Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ..., while Protestants were grouped alongside the British in the various anti-Labor conservative parties of the time. Even as Australians' levels of church attendance declined, religious influence, particularly the influence of socially conservative Christians, within political parties has remained strong. In 2017 the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship meet fortnightly, with about 60 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Section 116 Of The Constitution Of Australia
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 office or public trust under the Commonwealth. The product of a compromise in the pre-Federation constitutional conventions, Section 116 is based on similar provisions in the United States Constitution. However, Section 116 is more narrowly drafted than its US counterpart, and does not preclude the states of Australia from making such laws. Section 116 has been interpreted narrowly by the High Court of Australia: while the definition of "religion" adopted by the court is broad and flexible, the scope of the protection of religions is circumscribed. The result of the court's approach has been that no court has ever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Court Of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was established following the passage of the ''Judiciary Act 1903'' (Cth). Its authority derives from chapter III of the Australian Constitution, which vests it (and other courts the Parliament creates) with the judicial power of the Commonwealth. Its internal processes are governed by the ''High Court of Australia Act 1979'' (Cth). The court consists of seven justices, including a chief justice, currently Stephen Gageler. Justices of the High Court are appointed by the governor-general on the formal advice of the attorney-general following the approval of the prime minister and Cabinet. They are appointed permanently until their mandatory retirement at age 70, unless they retire earlier. Typically, the court operates by receiving applicati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Racial And Religious Tolerance Act 2001
The ''Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001'' is an Act of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia, that makes behaviour that incites or encourages hatred, serious contempt, revulsion or severe ridicule against another person or group of people, because of their race or religion, unlawful in Victoria. The Act was passed during the premiership of Steve Bracks and went into effect on 1 January 2002. From June 30, 2026 the legislation gets repealed and replaced with a new Anti-Vilification Act. The Act also prohibits racist graffiti, racist posters, racist stickers, racist comments made in a publication, including the Internet and email, statements at a meeting or at a public rally. The Act explicitly applies to public behaviour – not personal beliefs. Provisions Section 8(1) of the Act provides: ::A person must not, on the ground of the religious belief or activity of another person or class of persons, engage in conduct that incites hatred against, serious contempt for, or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
