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[e] rel[iance] on the blessing of Almighty God."[1]

Although the Australian monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, also British monarch and Governor of the Church of England, her Australian title is unrelated to her religious office and she has no role in the Anglican Church of Australia. The prohibition against religious tests has allowed former Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane Peter Hollingworth to be appointed Governor-General of Australia, the highest domestic constitutional officer; however, this was criticised.[2]

Despite inclusion in the "States" chapter, Section 116 does not apply to states because of changes during drafting, and they are free to establish their own religions. Although no state has ever introduced a state church (NSW restricted religious groups during the early colonial period), the legal body corresponding to many religious organisations is established by state legislation.[3][4] There have been two referenda to extend Section 116 to states, but both failed. In each case the changes were grouped with other changes and voters did not have the opportunity to expressly accept only one change. Most states permit broad exemptions to religious groups from anti-discrimination legislation; for example, the NSW act allowing same-sex couples to adopt permits religious adoption agencies to refuse them.[5][6]

The current situation, described as a "principle of state neutrality" rather than "separation of church and state",[2] has been criticised by both secularists and religious groups. On the one hand, secularists have argued that government neutrality to religions leads to a "flawed democrac[y]"[7] or even a "pluralistic theocracy"[8] as the government cannot be neutral towards the religion of people who do not have one. On the other hand, religious groups and others have been concerned that state governments are restricting them from exercising their religion by preventing them from criticising other groups and preventing them from refraining to do acts that they may deem unconscionable to their faith.[9]

See also
  • Section 116 of the Australian Constitution

References
  1. Preamble to Commonwealth of Australian Constitution Act Archived 2009-05-20 at the Wayback Machine (Imp.) 1900.
  2. Hogan, M. (2001, May 16). Separation of church and state? Australian Review of Public Affairs. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  3. Anglican Church of Australia Constitution Act 1960 (Vic).
  4. Lutheran Church of Australia Victorian District Incorporation Act 1971 (Vic).
  5. Advocate.com Editors. "Adoption Bill Passed in NSW | News". The Advocate. Archived from the original on 2011-11-30. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  6. Adoption Amendment (Same Sex Couples) Act 2010 (NSW).
  7. Wallace, M. (2005). Is there a separation of church and state in Australia and New Zealand? Australian Humanist, 77. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  8. Secular Party of Australia. (nd). The Separation of Church and State Archived 2013-08-12 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  9. Davidson, S. (2009, Oct 27). Victorian abortion law: Overriding the conscience of doctors. Crikey. Retrieved 2010-10-10
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