The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
The influence of religion in Australian society from 1901 to
the present
The primary influence of Christianity in Australia
All of the major world religious traditions (Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam) were present in
Australia by 1901. Because of its history as a British colony, and the fact that Christianity was the dominant
religious tradition in Britain, by far the largest proportion of the population said that they belonged to Christianity.
The influence of Christianity on the areas of Australian society
The syllabus requires you to have an understanding of at least two of the following areas in Australian society in
which Christianity has a primary influence: education, laws and the constitution, medical care, public morality
and social welfare.
Education
Christianity has had a strong influence on education in Australia and it has done so in the eight main ways
demonstrated in Figure 2.1.1a. Although particular variants have emphasised different things, all Christian variants
have made some contributions in all of these areas.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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1. Curriculum and
teachers in government
schools
8. Educational
Courses and
Resources for the
public
7. Indigenous
translation work
6. Hostels and
boarding
schools for
isolated
students
2. Voluntary
student
groups
Mains ways
in which
Christianity
is
influencing
education
5. Provision of Christian
alternative s to government
schools
3. Volunteer
Scripture teachers
in government
schools
4. Financial support
for paid Scripture
teachers in
government schools.
Main ways in which Christianity is influencing education in Australia
1. Curriculum and teachers in government schools. Christianity has influenced the curriculum and style of
teaching in government schools and provided many classroom teachers. For instance, problems and issues in the
mandatory Australian History course for Years 7-10 in NSW include religious influences since 1788, religious
heritage, religion and gender and the contact between churches and Aboriginal people. Teachers training in
Catholic universities have Christian formation and pastoral care as an integral part of their training. Training in
government universities emphasises care for the whole child and the value of the person. Most campuses have
evangelical Student Christian Fellowships for trainee teachers. Chaplains are available to all students.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Teachers’ Christian Fellowships maintain care and support through conferences, prayer meetings and
newsletters for teachers once they have graduated from University.
Studies of Religion was not introduced as an HSC subject in NSW until 1992. Since that time, however, its
candidature has grown from 4% to 17% of the total number of students sitting for the HSC and it is now the fifth
largest HSC elective. Whilst at first the subject was viable only because of support from independent schools, the
number and percentage of students from State schools is now the largest growth area.
2. Voluntary student groups. Christians run voluntary Christian groups called Inter School Christian
Fellowships (ISCFs) in government primary and high schools, usually at lunchtimes or sometimes after school. In
non-government schools these voluntary groups are called Crusaders. On weekends and in school holidays,
volunteers (who are often teachers and university students) run extensive ISCF and Crusader camping and
outdoor education programs as a supplement to the in-school groups.
3. Volunteer Scripture teachers in government schools. Churches have provided an extraordinary number of
volunteers to teach religious education in most primary schools and in many high schools. The New South
Wales Education Act of 1990 states, “In every government school time is to be allowed for the religious education
of children of any religious persuasion to be given by a member of the clergy and other religious teacher of that
persuasion, but the total number of hours so allowed in a year is not to exceed, for each child the number of school
weeks in the year.” This is called Special Religious Education (SRE) and is the responsibility of religious groups.
According to the Uniting Church’s John Oldmeadow, Executive Director of the NSW Synod Board of Education, in
New South Wales in 2002, approximately 14,000 voluntary SRE teachers from Christian denominations taught
approximately 500,000 children in New South Wales government schools each week. Most SRE is in primary
and infants schools with secondary schools work increasing as more churches join together and create boards to
employ paid SRE teachers. The majority of SRE teachers are volunteers, young mums or dads, uni students on
uni-free days, grandparents, ex-teachers, ministers and youth workers. Sometimes these Religious Education or
Scripture classes are organised ecumenically, at other times denominations organise at the local level.
According to an authority on Anglican education, Dr Grant Maple, Special Religious Education in state primary
schools has been the main educational focus of Anglicans. From 1880 onwards, the Anglican Church
concentrated its efforts on providing Special Religious Education, under various names such as Scripture or
Religious Education, to children in government schools. This led to the formation of the Board of Education in
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Sydney Diocese in 1919 and the employment of trained lay teachers to supplement the work of the clergy. From
this developed the need for a curriculum. With the rapid population growth following the Second World War,
increasing numbers of lay people were recruited to teach in public schools. This saw the development of training
and development programs to enhance their skills.
By 1960 there were only 29 Anglican schools in New South Wales. Many of these schools provided boarding
facilities for country and overseas students. At that time Anglican schools in Australia were educating only 1.87% of
all children and around 7% of nominal Anglicans.
<insert key terms icon and breakout box>
Key terms
Variants – a major branch of a religious tradition. In Christianity, these are Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox.
State aid – government funding for non-government schools.
Nominal – people who name themselves as belonging to a denomination but do not necessarily actively practice it
or attend that church.
4. Financial support for paid Scripture teachers in government schools. Around 60% of State schools in
Victoria have chaplains whose salaries are paid by local Christian groups. A growing number of NSW schools have
full-time Scripture or Religious Education teachers, whose salary is paid by a board made up of volunteers from
local churches who get donations from individual Christians or local church groups.
5. Provision of Christian alternatives to government schools. The Anglican Church was forced to re-evaluate
its position regarding schooling following the reintroduction of universal recurrent non-government school
funding by the Whitlam government (“State Aid”) in 1973. Anglicans had invested heavily in support for Religious
Education in government schools which over 90% of Anglican students attended. There was a renewed demand for
non-government school places once funding was available. Anglican parents joined other Christian parents to
establish low-fee parent controlled schools with a generic Christian character. They felt a commitment to the
biblical principle that responsibility for Christian education lay primarily with parents.
Anglican schools now number 49 in New South Wales and five in the A.C.T. with three or four new Anglican
schools being commenced each year. In the 2002 census, Anglicans made up nearly 21% of the Australian
population. Anglican schools now educate over 3% of all Australians and some 13% of nominal Anglicans.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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If Special Religious Education in government schools has been the priority and most visible contribution of
Anglicans to education, providing church schools as alternatives to government schools has been the most
visible contribution of Catholics to education. In the 19th century, State Aid to church schools was abolished and
this limited the number and diversity of non-government schools. Particularly in NSW, Catholic Bishops felt that
secular education was a contradiction in terms. The chief ongoing expense of any school is labour. Catholic
schools were least affected by the lack of State Aid because of the low labour costs involved in using nuns and
brothers as teachers. Catholics set about establishing and paying for their own schools, one in every parish. In
1866 Mary McKillop had founded her teaching order (Sisters of St. Joseph) which had nearly 1000 nuns by 1909.
Their success was through the availability of such cheap, committed labour and the financial support of Catholic
laity. Schools are the largest project of the Catholic Church in Australia.
The baby-boom of the immediate post-war period, and a migration program which had a considerable Catholic
component from Southern Europe, led to intolerable overcrowding and underfunding in Catholic schools by the
1960’s. Government health inspectors demanded that three extra toilets be installed in a local Catholic Primary
school in Goulburn. Lacking the funds for these, in 1962, the parents of students in Catholic schools in Goulburn
NSW “went on strike” and for a week more than 1,000 extra students turned up at the already overcrowded state
schools. After a week, parents called an end to the “strike” but a national lobby group set about ensuring that State
Aid remained a red-hot political issue. The Menzies (Liberal) government called a snap election in 1963 and won a
resounding victory, with promises of State Aid for science blocks and Commonwealth scholarships for students at
government and non-government schools alike. Those wanting government funding or State Aid for government
schools only – and not private schools, the so-called “schools with pools” - formed DOGS, the Council for Defence
of Government Schools. Gough Whitlam – who was in favour of State Aid - became leader of the Labor party
which was then in opposition. By now, State Aid was of crucial importance to Catholic schools. Paying full teaching
salaries to lay people had become necessary because of a sharp decline in the number of people wishing to
become priests, nuns and brothers.
Thus from the end of the 1960’s, State Aid was reintroduced as a policy in both the major political parties. A 1986
census showed that 56% of Catholic children attended state schools. A higher proportion of secondary students
attend religious-based schools than primary students. Many children go to government primary schools and then
spend part or all of their secondary education in non-government schools. This is demonstrated in Fig. 2.1.1c Pie
graphs.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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In 2001, of all children in primary school in Australia:

70 percent went to government schools

20 percent went to Catholic schools

10 percent went to other non-government schools.
At the secondary level,

64 percent went to government schools

21 percent went to Catholic schools

14 percent went to other non-government schools.
<insert key terms icon and breakout box>
Key terms
laity – members of a church community who are not ordained, that is, the great majority of church members
baby boom – rapid increase in the Australian birth rate following the end of World War II
lobby – attempt to get political support for a cause or those making the attempt
Between 1986 and 2001 the number of government schools declined by 6.6 % and Catholic schools by 1.1 %,
while other schools grew by 8.2 percent. The number of schools that were not government, Catholic or Anglican,
mostly alternative Christian schools, grew by 113%. Many of these are non-denominational parent-controlled
schools. According to Bentley and Hughes, of these alternative Christian schools, Baptist schools make a
significant component. Lutherans have over 80 schools in Australia with the majority in those states (Queensland
and South Australia) where Lutherans have had a longer history. Lutherans also have kindergartens and early
childhood centres plus one tertiary institution in Adelaide. In Lutheran schools, 30% of thei students are Lutheran
and 60% of their teachers. Seventh Day Adventists also have an extensive network of primary and secondary
schools in Australia. If Anglican schools, in proportion to the percentage of Australians who identify as Anglicans,
are under-represented, Baptist, Lutheran and Seventh Day Adventists are over-represented. The vast majority of
students at Catholic schools are Catholic. By contrast, only a minority of the students at most Protestant schools
belong to the specific denomination running the school.
6. Hostels and boarding schools for isolated students. Christianity has influenced education through the
provision of hostels, student group homes and boarding schools and colleges for geographically isolated
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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students. Providers include the Anglican Bush Church Aid, the Presbyterian Australian Inland Mission and the
organisation that replaced the A.I.M. when the Uniting Church was formed in 1977 (Frontier Services) and interchurch groups. See Section 2.2.1.
7. Indigenous translation work
Many years of time plus great commitment is needed for the translation of even a small proportion of the Christian
Scriptures, the Bible, into just one indigenous language. The Joyce Hudson’s case study below demonstrates this.
Case Study 1
Joyce Hudson
In 1967, Christian linguist Joyce Hudson went to Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia. The Aboriginal people there
were asking the Summer Institute of Linguistics for a translation of the Bible into their language. After Joyce had
spent years learning the Aboriginal Walmajarri language, she then analysed it linguistically. For many Aboriginals, it
was the first generation of contact with Europeans. Joyce’s partner in the translation work, Eirlys Richards,
developed literacy materials and taught some of the Walmajarri people to read and write Walmajarri.
By the mid 1970’s, Walmajarri young people were going to school and speaking Kriol. Kriol is a complete language
which has developed from Aboriginal Pidgin English. (See Section 1.1.2) This created a dilemma as to who would
be going to use the Scripture selections in Walmajarri on which Joyce and Eirlys had spent so much time. They
then produced books with pictures, and other materials, in such a way that non-literate Aboriginal people could
memorise the material and were thus equipped to teach others.
The people began to conduct Communion in Walmajarri (based on the Christian Bible Passage 1 Cor. 11:23b-26)
and to conduct funerals in Walmajarri. (Previously, funerals had been conducted in English.) In 1985, Scripture
selections in Walmajarri were published.
Joyce Hudson and Eirlys Richards then moved to Broome, Western Australia. Since 1985, Hudson has worked for
the Catholic Education Office, Kimberley Region on a range of curriculum development and language projects
at Nulungu Catholic College. At Nulungu her role was to put indigenous languages into the curriculum of the
College where 22 different Aboriginal languages are spoken.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The underlying philosophy of Catholic Education in the Kimberley is one of two-way learning which acknowledges
the culture of both home and school. Aboriginal parents have frequently requested that their children be taught to
speak Standard Australian English. This would enable them to operate successfully in mainstream Australian
society. One of the responses of the Catholic Education Office was the development of a program called Fostering
English Language in Kimberley Schools (FELIKS). Joyce Hudson and another educator, Rosalind Berry,
became known as the FELIKS team as they worked in schools across the Kimberley, further developing the
FELIKS approach. Their handbook for teachers, Making the Jump helps teachers understand the languages
involved and a variety of practical classroom strategies for the teaching of Standard Australian English as a second
dialect. Their work and the use of the book has now spread far beyond the Kimberley Region and is used
extensively in other Western Australian regions and in Queensland. In 1990 the Walmajarri-English Dictionary
was produced.
8. Educational Courses and Resources for the public
Educational Courses
Many Christian groups provides courses and resources for those seeking greater depth and understanding in how
to live out their faith in serving Australian society. Courses vary from one-offs to a series of weekly sessions. Two
examples are:

The Uniting Church’s Education for Lay Ministry Centre (ELM Centre) at North Parramatta which utilises
gifted course leaders from within and beyond the Uniting Church to run ecumenical courses on such things
as marriage relationships, working with children, leadership, preaching, Bible Studies, pastoral care and
personal growth.

Macquarie Christian Studies Institute (MCSI), a teaching and research institute affiliated with Macquarie
University. All MCSI units are accredited by Macquarie University and can also be taken for credit toward
degree programs offered by other institutions. Courses include counselling, workplace communities, a
Christian worldview, Spirituality, Organisational Change, Teaching the Bible, Christian Thought, “The Bible
on Sex, Money and Friendship” and an HSC Studies of Religion enrichment day.
Educational and Historical Records
Christian groups contribute records, archives, libraries and educational courses to the general public. Lowe
Memorial Library at Luther Seminary, South Australia has a Rare Book Collection. This comprises the largest
collection of German rare books in Australia (about 1400) and another 500 in various other languages. The oldest
book is a 1521 edition of St Ambrose Concerning Priestly Worthiness bound together with a 1523 edition of St
Isidore Concerning Ecclesiastical Offices. There is also a 1522 edition of Erasmus’ paraphrase of the Epistles of
Paul. Of exceptional beauty is a hand painted pictorial Bible, translated by Martin Luther and published by Hans
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Lufft in 1550. When Allied forces bombed Germany at the end of World War II many rare books were lost. This
means that some of the books at the Lowe Library are the only copies still in existence in the world.
During the nineteenth century, Abbott Salvado brought to New Norcia in Western Australia books for the library and
adornments for the buildings, ornaments, paintings and other art works. The collection of Holy Relics at New Norcia
may be the largest in Australia. There is a very large collection of works on paper. The library contains many
valuable early imprints. The oldest work is a 1508 copy of the Margarita Philosophica. There are 2500 pre-1801
volumes and 44 copies of the pre-1801 Rule of St Benedict, the oldest dating from 1602. Today New Norcia offers
research rooms and database searching for academics. In the archives is a 1858 list of 740 named Aboriginal
people, which must be among the most valuable sources for studying nineteenth-century Aboriginal populations in
Australia.
Test yourself
1. Name one voluntary Christian group in government schools and one in non-government schools.
2. State what SRE is. Evaluate the extent of SRE in NSW schools.
3. Outline the difference between the educational priorities of Catholics and Anglicans since 1901.
4. Name two Christian groups currently providing accommodation for isolated students.
5. Name a Christian group working on translations of the Bible into Aboriginal languages.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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<d> Influence of Christianity on Australian Laws and the Constitution
There are links between, and there is some overlap between Laws and the Constitution and the influence of
Christianity on Australian public morality. From the beginning of Australia's history as a British colony, some
parts of the legal system and its enforcement were Christian. For instance, Public holidays, for which employees
are entitled to extra pay and which are Christian religious holidays, include Good Friday, Easter Monday, Christmas
Day and Boxing Day. Sunday is also a day for which penalty rates are paid because Sunday is almost always the
Christian day of public worship. Over time, other laws were passed which expressed Christian values implicitly or
explicitly.
There has been no attempt to make Australia a theocracy, a state where religious beliefs are made into law. Many
Christians have felt, however, that if people are being physically harmed, or society as a whole is being put at risk,
then religious beliefs are sufficient reason to change the laws to protect the people at risk. If an individual whose
rights are being violated is unable to defend themselves in other ways that too is seen by many as a reason to
change the laws.
Most laws in Australia are made at the State or national government level. There is an opening prayer when
Parliament is officially opened in Canberra and a monthly prayer breakfast is held in Canberra that politicians of all
denominations may attend. At the Constitutional Convention in Canberra in 1998, Christians of all persuasions
lobbied to have God included in the new preamble to the constitution, should there be one. In law courts where
legislation is enforced, the oath about not being guilty of perjury is normally taken on the Christian Bible.
Ministers of the Christian religion are automatically entitled to conduct legal marriage ceremonies, providing that
the federal laws about marriage are followed before, during and after the ceremony.
Christians and Christianity have several ways of influencing the laws enacted in parliament. Politicians who are
Christians try to see Christian values carried out in legislation which is passed. In 1993, John Woodley a Uniting
Church minister was elected a Democrat for Queensland in the Senate and returned in 1998 with an increased
personal vote. His motivation for social justice was his encounter (30 years before) with the Aboriginal people
caused to live in squalor at “the Yumba” on the outskirts of Mitchell in Queensland. On some of these laws there is
a large degree of unanimity between Christians e.g. euthanasia legislation was almost universally rejected - not just
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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by nearly all Christian denominations (the Uniting Church was the only one which said that there was not a clear
cut right and wrong) but by Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic and Jewish groups.
In other areas, there is no agreement on what is the "most Christian" way of achieving certain objectives. Wowser
(we only want social evils removed) is a term used to describe those Christians whose stance on issues seems to
be based on a wish to limit people's freedom for the sake of the common good. Wowser refers to an attitude of
Christians who believe that, for the overall good of society, access to certain temptations should be restricted. They
have wanted to limit access to casinos and gambling and also wanted short hotel hours. So there has been strong
if divided Christian input into issues. The issues have changed over time. Sunday observance (the latter based
on Exodus 20:9-11) and especially Sunday trading, participating in foreign wars, conscription, the liquor trade
and limitations on gambling were some of the important debates in the first half of the twentieth century. Heroin
trials, excluding or restricting videos and other material that is too violent or sexually exploitative or pornographic,
taxation and especially the Goods and Services Tax (GST), gun control, surrogate pregnancies, abortion and
refugee policy have been recent concerns.
One of the areas where Christian influence was been most effective was in the reform of the White Australia
policy. According to Wright and Clancy racism was an area of significant Methodist concern. This involved a
number of separate matters, the “White Australia Policy”, apartheid in South Africa, racial issues in the United
States and policy relating to Aboriginals in Australia. Even before the Second World War, Methodist clergy such as
Burton and Walker had been openly concerned about the white Australia issue. Very soon after the war, Alan
Walker took it up in a booklet produced by the Christian Distributors Association. The 1948 NSW Methodist
General Conference began to show unease about deportations of coloured persons from Australia under Arthur
Calwell’s administration of the national immigration policy (The Methodists: A History of Methodism in New South
Wales, Allen and Unwin, St. Leonards, 1993, p. 191.) The concern of Methodists was shared by people in all
Christian variants and reform of the policy eventually occurred.
There are other areas in which Christianity has slowed down the passing of laws such as those about divorce
law reform, the decriminalising of homosexuality and giving women access to safe, legal abortions. Christians have
also been vocal in urging legislation which (they think) will ensure greater social justice in Australia.
<insert key terms icon and breakout box>
Key terms
Perjury – lying under oath
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Conscription – compulsory service in the armed forces
Sunday trading – operating a business on the Christian Sabbath
<end key terms>
In 1994, Harry Herbert (general secretary of the Board for Social responsibility in the NSW Synod of the
Uniting Church) warned the new Opposition leader, Alexander Downer, that he would incur the wrath of all
mainstream Christian churches if he persisted with his determination to dismantle the Mabo land fund. According to
Catherine Armitage in The Sydney Morning Herald of June 18 that year, “Mr Downer rushed onto radio to defend
himself as a ‘practising Christian’”. Even if only 5% of Australians go to church regularly, that’s still the country’s
largest social gathering by far, at 750,000 people a week. Robert Tickner, then Minister for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Affairs, said at the time that the churches’ attempt to establish a bipartisan framework for
reconciliation between Aboriginals and whites was a powerful constructive force in bringing the
Opposition on side. The Deputy Prime Minister of the Labor Party at the time was Brian Howe, a former Uniting
Church minister. (See also Section 2.2.6 Indigenous Rights).
On page 6 of Spectrum, in the Sydney Morning Herald of July 31, 1999, David Marr pointed out that no private
building in Australia has ever had so much public money spent on it as St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Sydney. He
described the “raw power” of the Catholic Church in Australia and said that “In secular Australia, the church
remains the best-connected, best-funded, most-respected lobby in the nation. The euthanasia debate
demonstrated its awesome capacity to achieve a result that’s deeply reassuring for Catholics but opposed by
something like 70 percent of the population. … Both Labor and the Coalition take for granted these days that they
can’t win government if the Catholic vote is solidly against them."
In emphasising Christianity’s influence on Australia’s laws, David Marr continued. “The Catholic Church still
officially insists that only men and women may have sex together, and only within marriage and only if a child may
result. And the church still officially expects governments to protect – with legislation if necessary – their notion of
sex viewed through this narrow slot. Censorship, and making life tough for lesbians and homosexuals is always on
the political agenda. And nothing matters as much as the question for effective laws against abortion. The bishops
are conservative, the commissions – on welfare, education, justice and peace – are more radical.”
<insert Figure 2.1.1g Cartoons>
Somerville’s cartoons of Traditional God, Calvinist God etc.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald 31st March 2001
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Caption: Views about whether Christianity should be influencing laws depends on the Christian person's view of
God.
<end Figure 2.1.1g Cartoons>
In the Anglican newspaper Marketplace in March 1998, in an article entitled “God and Caesar” Melbourne Baptist
Minister Tim Costello was quoted as saying, “Baptists firmly support separation of church and state. This does
not mean that the Church should not engage in politics, nor is it to protect politicians from hearing the voice of the
church, but to protect the church from the dictates of party politics.” Costello had publicly confronted then-Premier
Jeff Kennett over Victoria’s gaming-led economic recovery, condemning the massive transfer of wealth from
Melbourne’s poorest sectors brought about by the gambling industry. Costello felt that theological privatisation, the
notion that only spiritual things are of concern to Christians, was a grave danger facing the Church today.
Test Yourself
1. List three issues over which Christians have slowed down the passing of legislation.
2. What do the letters w.o.w.s.e.r. stand for?
<end test yourself>
Medical Care
According to the Christian Research Association in 2000, health (along with education and community services)
was one of the three largest employment sectors of Christian churches in Australia. 249,000 people were employed
in activities such as accommodation for the aged, residential care services and nursing homes. A further 211,000
were involved as volunteers. Christian churches have played a historic role in the establishment of hospitals and
other health services, believing that the grace and compassion of God is extended to all people.
1. Catholic
More than 10% of Australia’s hospital beds are provided by Catholic hospitals. One outstanding example is St
Vincent’s Hospital run by the Sisters of Charity. This Catholic hospital in Darlinghurst is a leading medical,
surgical and research facility. It has been innovative in areas that include cardiac, lung and bone marrow
transplantation. It provides a full range of adult diagnostic and clinical services. In 1991 St Vincent's Hospital was
incorporated under its own Act of Parliament and is now known as St Vincent's Hospital Limited. In April 1996 St
Vincent's joined the Sisters of Charity Health Service. This has 17 health care facilities and is Australia's largest
not-for-profit health provider. Today, St Vincent's is a principal teaching hospital of the University of New South
Wales and has close affiliations with a number of other universities, such as Australian Catholic University.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The mission of the Sisters of Charity at St Vincent's Hospital is to provide health care to all who seek it, especially
the poor and disadvantaged. People of all faiths and nationalities are cared for by the St Vincent's staff.
2. Seventh Day Adventists
Because one of the basic beliefs of Adventists is that the return of Jesus Christ to earth will be brought forward by
health, and the belief that a primary emphasis of Jesus Christ in the Gospels was on physical health, Adventists
contribute to Australian health and medical care to an extent that is far out of proportion to the number of Adventists
in Australia. Individually, they abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, narcotics and the irresponsible use
of drugs. Adventists wholly own Sanitarium Health Foods which has an annual turnover of $300 million and
employs more than 1500 workers. In 2000 Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith gave his highly successful food
company to Sanitarium on the condition that they continued to grow the business and to use only Australian
products. Sydney Adventist Hospital in Wahroonga is the largest employer in the Ku-ring-gai municipality.
Adventists are involved in health promotion, one of the best known and most successful of which is the antismoking Quit for Life program.
3. Presbyterian
John Flynn – pictured on Australia’s $20 note and after whom Elle McPherson named her son – was a Presbyterian
Minister who was the driving force behind the establishment of the Flying Doctor Service in 1928. In that first
year, the Doctor, Dr. Welch, flew 32,000 km, saved 10 lives, saw 250 patients and visited 26 remote areas. It was
geographically the largest medical practice in the world. It later became independent of the Presbyterian Church –
Flynn preferring to put energies into work that others would or could not support – but today there continues to be
close links between Christian missions and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). Currently, the RFDS is 75%
funded by the Federal Government but needs at least another $11 million a year to stay in the air. Church and
youth groups and individuals from all denominations contribute to this fundraising.
4. Uniting
The Uniting Church is a major provider of aged accommodation in Australia but amongst its most recent highprofile contributions has been running the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) at Kings Cross.
Injecting centres were the subject of a NSW Joint Parliamentary Enquiry and were recommended by the Royal
Commission into Police Corruption. The 1999 NSW Drug Summit carried a recommendation asking the
Government to conduct a trial and the NSW Parliament passed legislation for a licence to be issued. Overseas
experience had shown that the establishment of MSIC’s can significantly reduce death by overdose. A fundamental
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Christian belief is the sanctity of human life so a major motivating force for the Uniting Church seeking, and being
given, the licence to run the MSIC was to reduce deaths from overdose. Other reasons given by Uniting Church for
the Heroin Injecting Room were:

harm minimisation;

education;

to make other public areas safer;

rehabilitation;

that not any one particular approach works and that this was part of a multi-faceted approach;

that the centre included chaplaincy work;

that it was worth “giving it a go”; and

to care for those in need.
Amongst the arguments against the MCIS from those within the Uniting Church were objections that:

efforts should be focused on catching the drug traffickers;

it was ambulance work at the “bottom of the cliff” rather than “fence building at the top of the cliff”;

it would attract drug sellers to the area;

it would send a message that drug use was safe;

the church should be concentrating on spiritual work;

it would allow the use of drugs to spread; and

that the real answer to the problem was prayer;
The licence to run the MSIC was granted to the Uniting Church and the centre began in 2000. It was initially an 18month trial but the length of the trial was later extended.
5. Greek Orthodox
In 2000, Archbishop Stylianos announced the establishment of national drug and alcohol services as well as
rehabilitation centres in Sydney and Melbourne, perhaps based on techniques successfully used in monasteries of
Mount Athos in Greece. The rehabilitation services are being run by the Greek Orthodox Church’s newly
established ProviCare Foundation.
6. Friendly Societies
"Peace and plenty the reward of temperance.”
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Friendly Society slogan.
One way that the churches have served society especially in the period before 1945 was through running mutual
(self-help) Friendly Societies and Lodges. By collecting regular small amounts from members, Friendly Societies
had provided a simple form of reassurance. This system of granting sickness, unemployment and funeral
benefits had fulfilled an important function in working-class communities and answered a real need in the life of the
people.
Rechabites take their name from a biblical reference in Jeremiah 35 to a group of people who covenanted to be
pilgrims and strangers in any land, being instead uncompromisingly dedicated to God. This would include, amongst
other things, abstinence from alcohol. Rechabites do not see abstinence as a way of getting to heaven. Rather,
they see the abuse of alcohol as a terrible social evil that has crushed lives and families and that abstinence is a
good example to set. In the early years of settlement in Australia, with no “safety net” of compulsory safe working
conditions, workers’ compensation, socialised medicine or free public hospitals, the Rechabites’ primary purpose
was as a Friendly Society.
Catholics ran benefit Societies such as the Hibernian-Australasian Catholic Benefit Society, the Catholic Guild,
and the Irish Catholic Foresters. Today, improved working conditions and workers’ compensation has reduced the
need for such Friendly Societies. The Rechabites are still a strong organisation, however. In addition to providing
very competitive health insurance, they conduct campaigns that educate Australians about the benefits of an
alcohol free lifestyle and offer scholarships to secondary and tertiary students.
Whilst the word temperance (which means moderation) was often used, teetotalism (or total abstinence) was what
was meant, indicated by this banner that young women were urged to carry at temperance rallies.
Key terms
Friendly Society – a self-help insurance group for workers’ families paid for by weekly contributions from
employees’ pay
Safety net – government benefits which ensure that Australians are provided with basic food, accommodation and
health services regardless of people’s level of income or ability to pay
Rechabites – a health insurance society which was originally based on members being abstainers from alcohol
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Test Yourself
1. Name one contribution to health care since 1901 from each of the Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist and
Presbyterian churches.
2. Evaluate the reasons given by members of the Uniting Church for and against their applying for a license of
a Medically Supervised Injecting Centre.
3. Briefly explain how Friendly Societies worked and name four Friendly Societies in Australia since 1901.
Public morality.
Public morality refers to attempts by Christians to influence public policy so that a more just society is shaped. It is
about advocating an environment for the full development of the potential of the individuals within a society. This is
either through creating structures or eliminating unjust structures. It is about Christian Citizenship. Just as
there has been a diversity of Christian responses (even within variants as well as between them), so there are
diverse views about how a just society may be created. In 1972, a Methodist from Victoria, John Westerman,
suggested that this could be usefully summarised under five main approaches. These five theories on public
morality and why (or whether) Christians should try to influence it are Christendom; Separation; Watchdog;
Servanthood and Christian Responsibility.
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1. Christendom
2.
Separation
5. Christian
Responsibility
Some
Christian
approaches to
public
morality
4. Servanthood
3. Watchdog
John Westerman’s framework for the basis of Christian citizenship.
Source: Minutes of the Methodist Church of Australasia, Victorian Conference, 1972, p.393.
1. Christendom Approach: We want the whole community to accept Christian standards.
A recent example of the Christendom approach is the way religious groups effectively lobbied to have the Federal
Government overturn Northern Territory legislation that legalised euthanasia. This was despite surveys
indicating that more than 70% of Australians (and up to 84% of those who never attend church) believe that
euthanasia is sometimes or always justified. Another example is the Catholic hierarchy’s 2001 pursuit of an
expensive legal appeal against a Victorian court decision that allowed infertile single women including lesbians
to have access to In Vitro Fertilisation treatment.
Today, teetotalism and Sunday observance are non-issues in most churches. In 1906, however, the editor of The
Methodist said that “It is right for ministers to be active fighting for righteousness as to Sunday observance and
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temperance, but it is not right to be active on political subjects which are matters of opinion and not conscience.”
Church people campaigned hard for Sabbath observance. In 1902 a Methodist newspaper claimed that “lunacy
and heart disease were products of needless Sabbath work". By 1965, only the Baptist Union, the Churches of
Christ and the Salvation Army expressed any outright opposition to proposed changes in laws about Sunday
observance.
Key terms
Teetotalism – total abstinence from alcohol.
Temperance – although technically this term means being temperate or moderate in the consumption of alcohol, in
practice most people or groups urging temperance were urging teetotalism.
For many Australians, the Christendom approach is intolerable. At the end of 1999, Allen and Unwin published a
book by David Marr, The High Price of Heaven, the subtitle of which is "A book about the enemies of pleasure and
freedom". Marr felt, however, that the most reliable enemies of change - and often the best organised - were the
little Protestant churches, “particularly those upright congregations which had declined to join the Uniting Church.”
The worst fears of Continuing Presbyterians were confirmed in 1987 when the Uniting Church took a first step
towards acceptance of homosexuality by deciding, 'All baptised Christians belong in Christ's church and are to be
welcomed at his table, regardless of their sexual orientation'.
2. Separation Approach: The Church should address spiritual issues but not issues about the running of the
country.
According to Catholic theologian Frank Brennan, “When John Howard’s government wanted to crack down on boat
people including even those who were bona fide refugees, and the churches objected, Immigration Minister Phillip
Ruddock said that the churches should stick to what they do best and leave the politics of border control and
refugee rights to the elected government.” Howe and Nichols (Eds.) Spirit of Australia: Religion in Citizenship and
National Life, Australian theological Forum, Adelaide, 2001, p. 58.
In the mid 1930’s a Methodist student minister Bill Hobbin learned of the threatened eviction of ten families from a
row of dwellings. Hobbin was told by the landlord that a minister's job was to save the souls of people, not to be
concerned about housing them.
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Sometimes when Christians urge the “separation” approach to public morality it is because of a view that there are
two worlds, two kingdoms or two types of work. Issues about the fallen secular world are irrelevant, unimportant or
less important than those of the other spiritual world. After Baptist minister and President of the Baptist Union of
Australia Rev. Dr. Tim Costello formed the Victorian Inter-Church Gambling Task Force, some Christians said, “I
don’t know why Tim Costello bothers with such a trivial thing (as gambling). We are getting on with the important
issue of eternal life.”
Another reason for supporting separation is the belief that addressing spiritual issues is the key to redressing
immorality. Focusing on the spiritual is not just the most efficient way of reform; it is the only way that works. This
principle has been applied at the individual level and is demonstrated in the saying, ‘conversion to Jesus, not a
pledge of abstinence, is what saves a person from drink’. In the first press conference given by Dr. Peter Jensen
after his election as Anglican Archbishop of Sydney in June 2001 he referred to the issue of Aboriginal
reconciliation. Jensen stressed that the important thing was that Prime Minister John Howard read his Bible every
day. The implication was that if the Prime Minister was personally reading the Bible then the Federal Government
would be making the appropriate choices for Australian society. Personal piety would create a public morality.
key terms –
secular – not religious.
conversion - moving from a state of non-belief to one of active faith, often dramatically. (See Section 2.4).
3. Watchdog Approach: Christians ignore public policy issues unless something is proposed that threatens the
church’s ideas of good (private) morality.
Presbyterian Minister Rev. Terras said in 1928 in reference to newspapers, “We should discourage the insertion in
any publication of anything that is degrading or unseemly. Presbyterians should make sure that the cinema could
not have a bad effect on the morals of young people as well. If the movie theatre depicted low or degraded life, or
showed films that had a “prurient tendency”, Presbyterians should get up and walk out and let the owners of the
theatre know why they had walked out."
4. Servanthood Approach: The role of the church is to serve society. If the churches cannot contribute to the
solving of society’s problems then Christianity loses credibility and influence.
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Sometimes serving society is considered mainly of use to spiritually save people. At other times it is seen as tacked
on to the church’s (true) mission to save souls. Sometimes Christians have been inclined to see the church’s social
work as "rescue" or “ambulance” work rather than the more valuable remodelling of society. Many charitable
agencies were, however, inspired by Christian love and charity was valued for its own sake. Early in the twentieth
century, many Protestants joined a committee of the Old Age Pensions League formed with the object of pushing
for a system of State pensions for the aged. From 1945 onwards, the Methodist Public Questions and Social
Service Committee worked on practical measures to cope with issues arising from gambling, drunkenness, divorce
and many problems in marriage relationships.
5. Christian Responsibility Approach: It is a Christian responsibility to be contributing to public life.
In the same way that (in Matthew 13:33) a tiny bit of yeast or leaven goes right through a lump of dough to make a
pleasing loaf of bread, so Christians should be working to make the whole “loaf” of Australia a better and more just
society. Christians have a responsibility to look beyond welfare at structural alternatives.
The “responsibility” view has it that it is a necessary Christian obligation to speak out on issues. In reference to the
Wik Ten Point Plan, Catholic Cardinal Clancy said: “The Church not only may speak out on this, the Church is
obliged to speak out on matters of justice and it will continue to do so.” (Quoted in Howe and Nichols (Eds.) Spirit of
Australia: Religion in Citizenship and National Life, Australian theological Forum, Adelaide, 2001, p. 51.) Does this
responsibility fall to church bodies as a whole, or to individual Christians within them? Contemporary Catholic
philosopher Max Charlesworth says, “There is a real place for Christian witness in Australian society but it will be
informal and unpolitical (at least if that word means party-political) though nonetheless real and important.”
The Methodist and later Uniting Church tradition of toleration of diversity has made it particularly difficult to come to
a unanimous position on any issue, let alone to enact it as a denomination. At times, this has been the source of
much frustration and anger. Rev. Dudley Hyde was a former Fort Street High School student who began training for
the Methodist ministry in 1930. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, he was an outspoken critic of Australia’s involvement in
Vietnam and a Moratorium leader. He felt betrayed that the Methodist Church gave him much freedom and support
in his opposition activities, but never adopted that as its official position.
In 1977, in the last Congregational Assembly before they joined the Uniting Church, of the twenty resolutions
passed in one session, eight were directly about public morality issues: The resolutions concerned racism,
Aboriginal work, Aboriginal Land Rights, affirmation that workers had the right as a matter of conscience to engage
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in strikes as well as having the right to abstain from striking, the Henderson Report on Poverty and a call for a
moratorium on mining and exporting of uranium.
Catholic philosopher Max Charlesworth feels that it is in fact not the place of Christians to operate for change at a
legislative level. He acknowledges that Christians ought to be intensely concerned with social change but given that
there is in a liberal society no well-defined social consensus about a set of ‘core values’ or a ‘public morality’ which
it is the law’s business to safeguard and promote he advocates that Christians concentrate upon informal
community morality.
Uniting
In the lead up to the federal elections of 1999, the Uniting Church Board of Social Responsibility published a
brochure, Election Issues NSW 1999, to inform church members of some of the social policy issues. Many
individual parishes and congregations published summaries of these in the weeks leading up to the elections. They
urged, for instance that the Parental Responsibility Act which gave police the power to remove juveniles should be
repealed and that there should be an independent Children’s Commission with statutory authority.
By the twenty first century, most denominations had accepted the responsibility approach to public morality. An
example is that at the Inaugural Assembly of the Uniting Church in June 1977 a Statement to the Nation was
unanimously endorsed which included the following:
A Christian responsibility to society has always been regarded as fundamental to the mission of the
Church. In the Uniting Church our response to the Christian gospel will continue to involve us in social and
national affairs. …
We pledge ourselves to seek the correction of injustices wherever they occur. … We will oppose all forms
of discrimination. We will urge the wise use of energy, the protection of the environment and the
replenishment of the earth's resources...
Test Yourself
1. Give one example of Christians using a Christendom approach to public morality.
2.
Explain why some Christians felt that the church should keep separate from public policy debates.
3.
The Uniting Church formed from denominations with a strong dissenting tradition. Give one issue when
toleration of diversity meant a church would not adopt an official position on an issue.
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An example of changing approaches to an issue that was, for much of the twentieth century, considered to be a
public morality issue is teetotalism.
There have been four main “prongs” in the Christian attack on alcohol
1. moral suasion, by which reformers tried to convince people not to drink alcohol at all.
2. attempts to limit the hours that hotels were open so as to reduce the opportunities for excessive consumption.
3. lobbying governments to increase the legal penalties for drink driving and to introduce random breath testing.
4. to view alcohol abuse as more of an effect than a cause. This implied that if working conditions were better,
people would be less likely to want to escape into an alcoholic stupor after work.
1. Moral suasion
Before the end of the nineteenth century, Catholic Cardinal Moran had founded the Catholic Total Abstinence
Association and Catholic bishops at a Plenary Council instructed priests to establish parish temperance societies.
The Anglicans and Congregationalists also had temperance societies. Methodists and Presbyterians went
even further by having official Temperance Committees as part of their state structures. The word temperance
(which means avoiding excess) was and is used but in reality people were urged to become teetotallers, that is, to
avoid alcohol altogether.
2. Legal limits
The Temperance Movement was initially based on moral suasion but many Christian groups in Australia wanted to
directly intervene in the social problem, in this case through prohibition. They pushed for a referendum that would
stop hotels or pubs from operating in any electorate that so chose. Voters would have voted for the “option” of no
hotels in their “local” area, hence these regional efforts were called Local Option Leagues. In this crusade, Church
women joined Church men in public life to an extent that had not been seen before. The non-denominational
Women’s Christian Temperance Union was one of the best organised and most vocal groups. (Today, they
educate about, and lobby against, tobacco and marijuana as well as alcohol.)
3. Curbing the harmful effects of alcohol
Six o’clock closing of hotels was introduced in World War I and was maintained for 50 years. It was not abolished in
NSW until a referendum was won narrowly in 1954. By the 1960’s hotels could stay open till 10 o’clock. In the
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1960’s, Sunday trading of alcohol was introduced. Some churches now began a campaign for increased penalties
for intoxicated driving. They also urged that “drink driving” should no longer be an acceptable excuse in any court
case that followed a death caused by a drunk driver.
4. Working on some causes of alcohol abuse rather than on the effects of alcohol abuse
Even before World War I, the minister of Sydney’s St. James’ King Street Anglican Church, said “Christian effort
should be spent looking for (with the intention of removing) the causes of drunkenness.” Increasingly, this has been
the focus of Christian activity. See Section 2.2.2 on the Labour Movement
Test Yourself
1. List 10 areas where churches have felt a responsibility to comment on public policy issues since 1901.
2. Outline the four approaches of Christians in their attempts to curb excessive alcohol consumption.
Social Welfare
There are two major ways in which Christianity has influenced the welfare of Australian society:

through the lobbying of local, state and federal governments for social structures that allow for the fullest
development in the potential of each human being. A distinctive feature of Australian social policy
historically has been the preference for using the wage system to promote social goals rather than
‘welfare’. The Australian Catholic Church’s approach to state – civil society relationships has been that it is
legitimate and important for the Church to use the state to further its social aims.

through specific services offered to people in crisis.
Much lobbying is done collectively – see especially Section 2.4.2 ecumenism and the section earlier in this
section, on public morality. Some of the specific services are outlined below.
Catholic
The 40,000 members and volunteers of the St Vincent de Paul Society make it one of Australia's largest
organisations working against social injustice. Its Disability Services Vocational coordinates the support of
employment services for people with an intellectual disability. Home visitation is a response to calls for assistance
from people in the local community who are then often provided with furniture, clothing and household goods free
of charge through the Society's Centres of Charity and 'Opportunity Shops'. These centres also offer affordable
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clothing and goods to the wider community. The profit from the sale of stock from the Centres is used to
provide resources and support to people in need. The Society has also developed many Special Works that include
hostels for the homeless. Its Hostels for Homeless Men branch is the largest NSW provider of services for
homeless people and the aged. The Matthew Talbot Hostel in Sydney alone provides crisis accommodation for 200
men.
Methodists
In 1963 the Methodist Sydney City Mission established LifeLine, a 24-hour telephone counselling service. In 1964
a Methodist minister, the Rev. Ted Noffs established the Wayside Chapel at Kings Cross. In 1967 they established
a Drug Referral Centre and a Drug Addiction Research Foundation. Much important community knowledge and
action in this area flowed from Noffs’ pioneering work. Ted Noffs' wide-ranging ministry also included family
relationships, international understanding, racial and sectarian tolerance and understanding, personal crises and
confrontation with the drug problem. Aboriginal issues were of primary importance. In 1965 there was sympathetic
support on the presentation by Charles Perkins on the bus rides to Gulargambone, Walgett and Moree. “Both Mr
and Mrs Perkins are directly involved in the Wayside Chapel,” Methodists reported proudly.
Anglican
In 1901, Archdeacon William Boyce was an active temperance worker and crusader for a wide range of social
reforms including aged and invalid pensions, changed labour laws and slum clearance. Later, Archdeacon
Robert Hammond devised and implemented a scheme of linking unemployed men with land and home ownership.
By 1939, 110 cottages had been built on 225 acres now known as Hammondville. Hammond engaged in
rehabilitation of those brought before the courts, sheltered 114 homeless families, served over 250,000 meals a
year and provided clothing, furniture, free hot showers and haircuts for the destitute. His vision and energy have left
an enduring legacy in what today is the Hammond Care Group.
In more recent times Anglicans have placed greater emphasis on contributing to the policy debate in
governments. Through its expert committees it seeks to examine complex social issues in the light of the Bible and
church doctrine and ethics in order to work out appropriate responses. It provides emergency support for refugees,
English language classes for recent immigrants, and cross-cultural workers among ethnic groups.
Anglicare:
About 80 different Anglican groups come under the umbrella organisation of Anglicare. See
http://www.anglicare.org.au Anglicare provides approximately 25% of welfare services in Australia including
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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
The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
the Good Samaritans (whose volunteers, for instance, ran the Women’s Room at the Kosovar Refugee
Safe Haven at Singleton)

the Brotherhood of St Lawrence which works with the poor and the unemployed

being one of the largest providers of aged care in Australia (Australia has one of the longest life
expectancy rates in the world)

29 chaplains in prisons and Life After Prison Ministry

juvenile justice centres

medical and psychiatric hospitals

emergency services

clothing bins. (Material is sorted and used to help people in emergencies, sent to “Op. shops”, sold to
selected markets overseas or converted into industrial wipers. Nearly $1.2 million has been distributed over
a ten-year period from Op. Shops to other Anglicare ministries.)
Baptist Inner City Ministries
Although Baptists have a long history of working in social welfare areas, one of their most successful welfare
ventures, Baptist Inner City Ministries (BICM), only began formally under that title as recently as 1987. BICM works
with

Street sex workers. There are over 200 people involved in street sex work each week in NSW and these
are the most vulnerable and marginalised of all people involved in the sex industry. The BICM Women’s
Space offers hospitality and acceptance to the women of this group through a Drop In Centre in Sydney’s
inner-city suburb of Woolloomooloo.

The Fair Wear campaign for fair wages for migrant women outworkers who have previously been exploited
by the clothing industry.

People with gambling, drug and alcohol addictions, with mental and physical health needs, those
experiencing violence or homelessness and those with Australian residency and discrimination
problems

A “back shed café” and Op. Shop

A fruit and vegetable co-operative and distribution of food hampers

Scripture teaching at the local school.

An Aboriginal Community Development Officer who works with motivating indigenous people to move
into community activities, teaches students at the local school about Aboriginal culture, conducts
indigenous burial services as asked and assists with referrals in cases of needs related to mental health
and alcohol.
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Lutheran
Lutheran Community Care contributes significant work in child welfare, general hospital visiting, psychiatric
hospitals, distributing used goods and clothing to those in need, professional social work and counselling.
Test Yourself
1. Name the denominations which established:
a. The St Vincent de Paul Society.
b.
The Wayside Chapel.
c.
The Good Samaritans.
2. Name the umbrella organisation under which most Anglican social welfare services are organised and
name and describe some of these services.
3. Outline some of the activities of the Baptist Inner City Ministries.
The Inter-relationship between the Australian Physical Environment and Christianity
In 2000, internationally renowned travel writer, Bill Bryson, made the statement,
“The monumental emptiness of Australia is not easy to convey. It is far and away the most thinly
peopled of nations. In Britain the average population density is 632 people per square mile; in the
United States the average is 76; across the world as a whole it is 117. The Australian average, by
contrast, is six people per square mile. But even that modest figure is wildly skewed because
Australians overwhelmingly live in a few clustered spots along the coast and leave the rest of the
country undisturbed. The proportion of people in Australia who live in urban areas is 86 per cent.”
Bill Bryson Down Under, Random House, Sydney, 2000 page 116
The predominant culture of Australia is western or European yet it is physically isolated from other predominantly
European or western cultures. The distance between Australia’s major cities is greater than the total size of some
countries. (Perth is the most isolated city in the world.) The distinctive nature of Australia’s landscape, history and
climate has led to the expression of Christianity here being unlike that in any other country. Although many
countries will share some aspects of Australian Christianity, its final package is unique.

Distance and isolation in the harsh Australian physical environment has led to unique phenomena such
as the wife of the Anglican bishop of Willochra piloting him around the diocese in a small plane. Before the
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world gathering of Anglican female and male bishops in England in 1998, spouses were asked about what
activities they would like to have organised for them. She asked for an aircraft maintenance course. This
gained worldwide media attention.

Australia is an island with over 98% of its trade being done by sea. The Missions to Seamen (today
called Mission to Seafarers) was established in 1868 and continues today caring for the pastoral, social
and physical needs of the many sailors at ports around Australia.

Australia is such an enormous distance from the centres of Christianity in Europe that churches had to rely
on the initiatives of lay people and on co-operation with clergy from other denominations. This also made
Christianity more immune to theological fads. One saying is, “The Germans invent theology, the Americans
distort it, the British correct it and the Australians ignore it.” (See also Section 2.1.3).

Drought, fire and flood have meant that churches showed leadership in local communities during such
crises. Church buildings have often been the place where those whose homes have been threatened or
destroyed have stayed and memorial services have played a significant part in helping communities deal
with grief and loss. The first Anglican bishop of Grafton and Armidale, WC Sawyer, was drowned during
his first year in office while attempting to cross the flooded Clarence River to make a pastoral visit. A
number of church buildings were destroyed during the infamous Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria. In
February 2001, the Moderator of the NSW Uniting Church flew to Narrabri to see the effects of flooding in
the area. Within 18 months, the Narrabri district, indeed 90% of rural NSW, had been drought-declared.

In 1967, a Catholic priest questioned the Anglican Bishop of the largest diocese in the world, North West
Australia, Bishop Witt. The priest said he rarely saw his own bishop because of the many meetings the
poor man had to chair each day. What did an Anglican bush bishop do with his time? Bishop Witt replied,
“In the last 18 months I’ve dipped sheep, helped in a shearing shed, done a windmill run and opened 142
gates. I’ve seen the gold at Mt. Magnet and seen the iron at Tom Price. I’ve cray fished at Kalbarri and
done confirmations in lounge rooms. I’ve been to gaol four times. I’ve looked for a noxious weed (and didn’t
find it) and an anchor from a pearling lugger (and did). And I’ve tried to be what the Apostle Paul says a
bishop must be: the husband of one wife and a father to my five children.” (Quoted in Bush Church Aid,
Seventy Five - Not Out!, BCA, Sydney, 1993 p. 23).

A service for blessing of the animals at Darwin Anglican Cathedral included blessing native animals
including crocodiles, spiders and snakes.

Isolation and lack of government services over a very thinly spread population base has meant that
churches have carried a disproportionate load of educational and medical responsibilities in rural and
outback Australia. See education and medical care in Section 2.1 and outback Australia in Section 2.2.1.
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Test Yourself
1. List five distinct features of the Australian physical environment.
2. Evaluate the impact that the physical environment has had on the type of ministries that Australian
Churches have undertaken. Evaluate, too, the way those ministries have been carried out.
The Inter-relationship between the Australian Cultural Environment and Christianity
There has never been an established religious tradition or established variant in Australia. After Federation, Section
116 of the Constitution stated, “The Commonwealth shall not make any law for the establishing of any religion.”

With the exception of Lutherans in the 1830’s and Jewish people before and after World War II, religiously
motivated immigration to Australia has been rare. This contrasts with some of the immigration to America
in the seventeenth century when Puritans, Quakers and others sought to escape persecution.

The meeting of religious needs is seen as the responsibility of the individual and of institutions supported
through voluntary financial contributions. Voluntary giving was a novel experience for Christians
accustomed to endowed churches in Britain or state sponsorship in Europe. Donations to religious bodies
in Australia are not tax-deductible as they are in the USA and nor does the government pay for the
salaries of clergy as governments do in countries such as France and Germany.

Christianity in Australia has not had the same social importance and visibility that it had in Britain.

Especially in the first decades of the twentieth century, Australian Catholics were more likely to be
critical of capitalism than their European counterparts. The European situation was commented on in a
papal encyclical Rerum Novarum which included some warnings about the evils of socialism, the challenge
for Catholic Church officials in Australia was to show how some form of socialism might be more or less
compatible with Rerum Novarum. The first edition of the Catholic Worker, for example, trumpeted
capitalism and not communism as ‘Public Enemy Number One’. The attitude to communism changed in the
late 1930’s, primarily through the impact on Australian politics of the Spanish Civil War. Historian Smyth
notes that “The Catholic leadership soon found itself in novel harmony with the majority of Protestant
leaders who had all along regarded communism as the chief social threat.”

In the USA, less than 5% of students go to religiously based schools. In Australia, more than 30% do.

Addressing the contemporary context, Charlesworth claims that “Australia is no longer (if it ever was) a
Christian society and Christians cannot claim to represent or to speak for Australian society at large as the
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very powerful religious conservatives in the United States, the ‘Christian Taliban’ as they might be called,
do claim to speak about a whole range of moral issues.”

While non-Anglican Protestants make up the majority of Christians in the USA, dissenters or nonconformists (such as Baptists, Congregationalists, Friends, Presbyterians, Unitarians and Methodists)
have only ever been, even collectively, a minority group in Australia. With Australia never having had an
official denomination, non-conformity here was never a legal position. It was a collective term of reference
for non-Anglican Protestants. Ian Breward in A History of the Australian Churches (Allen and Unwin, St
Leonards, 1993) states that dissenters were forced by penal laws, severe discrimination and harassment
by the Church of England into a tightly defined subculture which could be inward-looking, moralistic and
arid in its piety.

There may have been irreligion and lack of interest in Christianity in Australia but there is little evidence of
the violent opposition to the churches that characterised some European communities.

Lutherans are the largest Protestant denomination in the world but in Australia they are a minority church.

3% of Christians in the world are Anglicans but in Australia in 2002 Anglicans make up 30% of the
Christian population and in some periods they have made up more than 60%.
Key terms
Dissenters – members of non-Anglican Protestant denominations. In England where the Church of England was
the official or established denomination, for many years dissenters as well as Catholics experienced professional
and social discrimination.
Endowed – being provided with a permanent source of income from the will of a wealthy person, family or trust.
Egalitarianism
Lay participation in church government has been a feature of Australian Protestantism with this occurring far
earlier in Australia than for instance in Anglican or Methodist ‘parliaments’ in England.
Ecumenism has had a longer history in Australia. See also Section 2.1.2, 2.2.1 and 2.4.2.

Vocation to the priesthood or religious life was the ideal for Roman Catholics just as wholehearted
commitment to divine truth and personal holiness were the goals of every serious Protestant. Australia has
been, in proportion to its population, one of the most enthusiastic senders and supporters of overseas
missionaries.

In 1929, Scullin became Prime Minister at a time when there had been no Catholic prime minister of
England and no Catholic President of the United States. Scullin was followed by Joseph Lyons, another
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devout Catholic. John Curtin was brought up a Catholic and other Catholic Prime Ministers have included
Ben Chifley and Paul Keating.

All the main Protestant churches had problems with raising money for property, especially in the bush.
Local people of different denominations would often band together to erect a simple centre for worship and
education available to all.

Union between the various schisms in Presbyterianism occurred in Australia long before the same
comprehensive union took place in Scotland in 1929.

Initially, traditional theological disciplines were all excluded from the state universities lest they lead to
sectarian division.

Opportunities for political and professional advancement were greater for Catholics here than in most parts
of Britain.

Catholics have always made up a higher proportion of the population here than they did in England and
even today the percentage of New Zealanders who are Catholic (New Zealand having a history of being a
British-colony that is similar to Australia's history) is much lower than Australia's. Catholics have been
important in every state and in state issues and even by the time of Federation they had established a
position which alarmed some sectarian Protestants.

Catholic Cardinal Norman Gilroy, the first Australian-born cardinal, attended the consecration of the first
Australian-born Archbishop of Sydney, Marcus Loane, in 1967. This was a dramatic sign of a changed
ecumenical climate after Vatican II but also of geographical distance from the denominational centres of
Rome and Lambeth.

After Vatican II, Catholics co-operated with Protestants and state officials in drawing up suitable class
materials for volunteer Scripture teachers in state schools.

Australia has had less extreme sectarianism, never having had the deaths and violent sectarian conflicts
experienced in, for instance, the United Kingdom. Even at the beginning of the twenty first century, the
taking of Anglican Communion by the Irish president, Mary McAleese, a Catholic, caused controversy. In
England, when British Prime Minister Tony Blair, an Anglican, received Communion with his wife, who is
Catholic, he received a note from the Catholic Cardinal indicating that he should stop.
Denominations have never been monocultural.

Although early in the twentieth century all the Protestant churches relied heavily on recruiting clergy from
Britain, Lutherans for example also looked to Germany. For much of the twentieth century, however,
Church leaders were almost universally British-born and educated. Legal separation of the Australian
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Church of England from the parent English church did not occur until 1962 and it did not change its name
to Anglican until 1983.

The Catholic Church has recruited from Germany, Italy, Spain and France and, especially after the ending
of the White Australia Policy, Asia and Africa. For some migrants the culture shock of Irish-style
Catholicism severely tested their loyalty for it differed in many ways from the Catholicism of their
homelands but Australian Catholicism was never entirely Irish. Australia had, by 1986, taken a higher
proportion of refugees in relation to its population than any other nation in the world.

The Australian population is unusually urbanised compared with most other parts of the world.

In Christian Orthodox law and theology, there can only be one Orthodox Church in one place but Orthodox
churches in Australia have developed great skill at living with the difference between a theological ideal
and the historical reality. So within the same suburb or in neighbouring suburbs in Australia there
might be Ukrainian, Russian, Greek and Serbian Orthodox churches. This is unheard of in those
respective sending countries in Europe.
Key terms
Sectarian – excessive loyalty to one’s own denomination with accompanying excessive hostility to other
denominations.
Vatican II - a series of meetings of Catholic bishops from all over the world which took place between 1963 and
1965.
Monocultural – reflecting one national culture and heritage e.g. Scottish Presbyterianism or Irish Catholicism
Urbanised – the proportion of people living in large towns and cities compared with the proportion living on farms
or in other rural areas
Test Yourself
1. Explain how the funding of religious groups in Australia differs from those in Britain, the USA and France.
2. Give three examples of the way ecumenism developed earlier in the Australian environment than in Europe
or the U.K.
3. List three ways in which Australian Catholicism has been distinctive.
4.
Explain why Christian Orthodox Churches would not be found on neighbouring suburban blocks in Europe
in the way that they are found in Australia.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Religious responses to change and community development
Outback Australia
The Anglican Bush Church Aid
The Bush Church Aid Society (BCA) began in 1919. On the 1st January 1920, the Rev. S. J. Kirkby commenced
his duties as a padre. In 1922, two English women formed a pastoral-medical team. They worked in the isolated
settlement of Cann River, Victoria. The two women lived in a tent. Their “nursing centre” slab hut was separated
from the nearest doctor by 80 kilometres of bush track.
Many of the tracks that BCA workers had to go on were so rough that moving by foot or horseback was the only
way through. The BCA padres were known for their ‘swag and surplice’. The Cobar parish padre in Western NSW
was at first equipped with a borrowed pushbike and then the padre and his wife got a Harley Davidson motor bike
and sidecar. They often ate “galah and wild goat for tucker” which the padre shot with his rifle.
<insert key terms icon and breakout box>
Key terms
Swag - back pack or roll of blankets and necessities carried by the padres.
surplice - a robe worn by clergy when officiating on such occasions as at a baptism or Communion.
Padre: A padre is a minister who helps anyone who wants help. The person being helped does not need to be the
same denomination as the minister or priest which in the case of Bush Church Aid padres is Anglican.
Other Bush Church Aid activities followed including mission vans, hostels, hospitals, the Flying Medical Service, the
Mail Bag Sunday School, clergy and nurses.
In 1935 the BCA built a small hospital midway between Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie on the lonely 2000 kilometres
of Transcontinental Railway. They had an aircraft ambulance linking the three centres. This was the beginning of
Bush Church Aid’s Flying Medical Service. It would eventually expand to cover more than half a million square
kilometres of outback South Australia.
The BCA provided Australia’s first Flying Parson, the Rev. Leonard Daniels. His Wilcannia parish consisted of
5000 people scattered over 66,000 square kilometres in western NSW. In 1927, Len raised money in England to
purchase a single-engined, De Havilland Cirrus Moth Mark II aeroplane. At the peak of its development, BCA’s own
Flying Medical Service in South Australia was, with the exception of the Commonwealth-funded Northern Territory
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Medical Service, the most comprehensive of all the flying medical services. It had six bush hospitals, two
ambulance aircraft, a radio base serving an extensive outback network, a pharmacy, a dental clinic and a radio
school for children on isolated properties. Together these provided a self-contained service that was unique in
Australia’s aerial medical history.
Florence Dowling
In 1932, Nursing Sister Flo Dowling began work in the isolated BCA hospital near the Transcontinental Railway in
South Australia. As hospital matron, Flo saw nursing as a sacred and urgent calling. For her nurses to even think
about eventually getting married was unfitting. They too were expected to fulfil their vocation with a vigour and
single-mindedness equal to Flo’s. This level of commitment prompted the local Catholic priest to pay her staff his
highest compliment. They were, he declared in his Irish brogue, “as good as Noons.” A baby boy was born very
prematurely at her hospital in1932 weighing only 992 grams. No humidicrib was available. Sister Flo put him in a
cardboard shoebox lined with cotton wool near the wood stove in the kitchen and used an eyedropper to feed
him. He survived.
In the 1940’s the BCA doctor at Ceduna was bitten by a death adder and died from its poison. Esma Page was
a young pharmacist at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. She moved to Ceduna after hearing about the death
of the town’s only doctor and ran a pharmacy there for nine years. When she could be spared from the pharmacy
she took on flying ministry work. This included jobs such as acting as anaesthetist while a doctor extracted a
stockman’s abscessed teeth at a station property. On this occasion they used the homestead kitchen for the
operating theatre. As BCA’s radio ministry to the people of outback South Australia grew, a radio school for
isolated children was developed. A coastal radio service for vessels fishing in the Great Australian Bight was
also established.
Today, the Anglican Bush Church Aid has 75 workers spread over all states. They receive no government support.
They get their money from donations. These donations come from members of churches in the more populated
parts of Australia. Many of the country towns where the Bush Church Aid works have a 50% annual turn over of
residents. A staff turnover of 200% is not exceptional. Today BCA staff and volunteers continue to give countless
hours of volunteer work in addition to their full time jobs. They do extra jobs such as counselling, teaching Sunday
School, organising youth activities and leading Bible studies.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Test Yourself
1. List seven activities of the Bush Church Aid for which a demand was created by the Australian physical
environment.
2. Describe some memorable achievements of Tom Jones, Flow Dowling and Esma Page.
Frontier Services
Frontier Services began as the Australian Inland Mission in 1912. The building of a Transcontinental Railway
from Sydney to Perth had only just started and was not completed till 1917. The Reverend John Flynn (aged 31)
recommended that the Presbyterians form an Australian Inland Mission. This, he said, would involve a great deal of
risk and experiment. It would also challenge the church to function nationally. While he did see it as a form of
Christian outreach, he also sought benefit for the whole nation not just the Christians, or the Presbyterians, within it.
For most outback workers, the desert sands and lack of water meant that the most appropriate means of travel was
by camel buggy. When the padre at Oodnadatta was gone on a pastoral trip (which could be for periods of six
months at a time) Nurse Bett minded the Oodnadatta base. This meant that she:

tended outpatients;

distributed books from parcels received;

gave a daily Bible lesson to school children;

taught Sunday School each Sunday morning;

ran church services on Sunday evenings;

arranged funerals, telegrams, registrations and the conduct of graveside services;

made home visits to accident cases; and

escorted patients who needed to be taken by train to Port Augusta, 550 miles away.
In 1917 there was a tragedy in the Kimberley in Western Australia. A stockman gored by cattle horns was brought
from a station on a nightmare journey to Halls Creek. Here a telegraph officer (under directions telegraphed over
2300 miles of line from a doctor in Perth) sought to carry out emergency surgery. A doctor travelled by steamer
from Perth to Derby and thence by car to Halls Creek, a journey of 13 days. When the doctor arrived, however, he
found that the patient had died 22 hours earlier. This tragedy gripped the Australian public. The Australian
government approached the Australian Inland Mission to start its first hospital, which they did. Flynn dreamed of a
"mantle of safety" which needed three components - a network of nursing homes, radio communication and an
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aerial medical service (air transport had undergone rapid development in World War I). In 1928 the world's first
Flying Doctor Service was launched. A Qantas plane based at Cloncurry was fitted as an ambulance for the use
of an A.I.M. doctor. The service got great support from the Australian public and so in 1939 it was made an
independent body with the name The Royal Flying Doctor Service. The R.F.D.S. has not been affiliated with any
religious body since 1939.
In 1933 summer holiday and health camps near Adelaide were initiated for inland children. It later became the
Far North Children’s Health Scheme.
In 1949 the first of the A.I. M.’s Old Timers' Homes opened in Alice Springs. As inland Australia changed, so did
A.I.M’s ministries. In the 1960's the Ord River scheme led to the development of a new town of Kununurra.
Kununurra became the base for an A.I.M. Ord River padre. Rather than simply run an outpatient’s service to which
Aboriginal families brought their children, an Itinerant Health Sister was appointed in East Kimberley. This led to a
remarkable improvement in the health of Aboriginal children and an impressive reduction in the infant mortality rate.
It was not until 1966 that the A.I.M. was able to purchase its first aircraft for its own use. The Rev McCahon based
at Carnarvon became the first A.I.M. padre to fly an aeroplane on regular patrol work. He was followed by Rev.
Noble in 1968 who piloted VH-AIM and ministered to a “united” congregation. This continued a long tradition of
ecumenical work in outback Australia.
Key terms
Old Timers' Homes – nursing home or aged care facility
Itinerant – moving from place to place rather than being at one centre and expecting patients to come to that
centre
Inland settlement increased with the quickening pace of mineral searches and discoveries, especially in Western
Australia. New social patterns emerged in these mining towns. There were very few extended families,
grandparents or even people aged over 45. Many miners married and had children but when the children reached
High School age couples either sent their children to boarding school or moved to larger cities. (In 1999, the
average age of the population in Tom Price, Western Australia was only nine years!) A distinctive A.I.M. response
was to establish and run pre-school kindergartens. Kindergartens were begun at Tom Price in 1968, Dampier in
1969 and Karratha in 1972. In Karratha, a community health sister was also appointed. In 1966 at Exmouth a
Community Worker combined kindergarten work with other activities amongst construction workers' families,
including English language classes.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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When the Presbyterian Church became part of the Uniting Church in 1977, the Australian Inland Mission
became Frontier Services and its work continued.
Today, the needs of rural Australians are greater than ever.
"Rural people are not receiving the guarantees of basic entitlements at anything like the level that we
in the cities would expect to get them.”
Human Rights Commissioner, Chris Sidoti, 1998
"Over the past ten years, life for many in the bush has been difficult. On farms, outback properties and
in country towns, age, circumstances and distance isolate many, while community services, family and
neighbours are limited. For country Australians there is a deep seated feeling of disadvantage against
the opportunities available in the cities."
Rt Hon. Ian Sinclair, former Speaker of the House of Representatives
and Member for New England, 1988.
Currently, Frontier Services funds 17 Patrol Ministries that between them cover approximately 70% of the land
mass of Australia. Frontier Services can also be used for Section 2.1 of this chapter, the primary influence of
Christianity in Australian society. Examples include:
Medical and health care
The health of remote and rural communities continues to lag behind the rest of the country. The Social Health Atlas
of Australia graphically reveals the disadvantage of distance in category after category of health statistics. Remote
areas have higher rates of infant, young and middle-aged mortality than other areas. In some remote parts of
Queensland and South Australia, isolated townships still rely on Frontier Services remote-area nurses to provide
this service.
For outback people, the frailty of age or disadvantages of disability are often made worse by distance from services
and resources. One of the worst things that can happen is removal from their natural community at their time of
greatest need. Frontier Services overcomes this in remote areas of three states by the provision of a range of
home-based Home and Community Care services and, in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, by
providing residential services for aged and disabled people.
Education
Frontier Services supports isolated families in the education of their children through Student Group Homes in
Atherton, Charleville and Mount Isa in Queensland. Dedicated houseparents provide a home away from home,
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enabling students from remote communities and properties to participate fully in school life in town. Frontier
Services’ Remote Area Families Services provide advice and support to parents and early childhood activities for
children in remote communities and on isolated properties who have no access to mainstream services.
Social Welfare
In many outback towns, Frontier Services' staff provide advocacy, counselling and other support services, both
formally and informally. An example is the Migrant Settlement Services in the Pilbara where Frontier Services
assists recent arrivals to become established in a new country and a new community, accessing appropriate
services and maximising the potential of life in Australia. At Tenant Creek there are Frontier Services units for crisis
accommodation.
Bush Brotherhoods
A pioneer Bishop of Rockhampton Anglican diocese coined the phrase ‘bush brotherhood’ and there were in fact
fifteen different Anglican brotherhoods serving various parts of outback Australia although there are none today.
Australian-born lay teaching brothers did assume responsibility for three Anglican schools in Queensland, those at
Carters Towers, Charleville and Warwick. See also Catholic example of New Norcia in Section 2.1.1.
Test Yourself
1. Describe three innovative ways in which the A.I.M. responded to the changes taking place in inland
Australia between 1912 and 1977.
2. Name the new organisation formed in place of the A.I.M. when the Uniting Church began in 1977 and list
three of the services it provides today.
3. From the material provided above, list as many unusual causes of death and danger in outback Australia
as you can. Describe how Christians tried to minimise the impact of these.
The response of Islam to rural and outback Australia
Camels were very well suited to transporting people and goods in the Australian desert. Islam began in Saudi
Arabia which is a country that is largely desert. Therefore the majority of camel drivers who came to Australia were
Muslims. Before the end of the nineteenth century, Christian entrepreneurs such as a Scotsman by the name of
Elder were importing camels and sponsoring the arrival of Afghani camel drivers. Towns made up of Islamic
people, called Ghan towns (because many were from Afghanistan) developed near rural freight depots. It was
because of camel driving that the first and later Muslim settlements developed in outback Australia. This continued
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in the twentieth century. Today, the graves of these pioneer Muslims are still to be found in outback towns in
Australia.
There were no Afghan women or children in the first Muslim towns so many Afghan men married Australian
women. The states that had the greatest proportion of desert, South Australia and Western Australia (and hence
the greatest demand for camels) were the states that initially had the highest proportion of Muslims. (The first city
mosque was opened in Adelaide in 1890 and others soon followed in Broken Hill and Perth.) After Federation, and
because of the White Australia Policy (see section 2.3.2), many Muslims returned to their homelands. There were
waves of Islamic immigrants from Albania during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Many of these went to Queensland for
cane cutting, cotton picking and working on tobacco farms. They were offered free land. As had been their
response earlier, the response of Muslim people to the harsh conditions of the outback was to pursue holiness as
best they could. They prayed five times per day, expressed belief in Allah and looked for fellowship with other
Islamic people by building mosques. Whilst Jewish people got land grants for synagogues and Christians got land
grants for churches, Muslims had to raise their own money for land for mosques.
Test Yourself
1. Give two reasons for Muslims coming to rural and outback Australia.
2. Name a Muslim place of worship and outline how Muslims got land on which to erect their places of
worship.
Role and response of religious traditions to the Labour Movement
The Labour movement
From the time of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, English Methodists were directly associated with the start of British
unionism and in Australia, evangelicals were concerned with labour and working conditions.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Methodists, Congregationalists and Presbyterians joined other churches
in support of the Early Closing Movement, which successfully brought forward the time when shops shut from 10
pm to 6 pm. When the first Labor members of Parliament were elected, initially only a handful of the new
parliamentarians were Catholics. Many were Methodists from the working class. When there was insistence that
Labor members vote in Parliament according to the wishes of the Labor caucus, however, the Labor Party lost the
comprehensive representation of working class people with which it had begun. (Voting according to Caucus was
later introduced in all the major political parties). The Progressives of the early years of the twentieth century and
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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later, the Labor Party, were seen as supporting and being supported by Catholics, as supporting liquor interests
and as representing the needs of the working class. The Liberal Party was seen as supporting Protestantism and
the cause of Temperance. Working class Protestants from the non-Anglican traditions (Baptists, Methodists,
Congregationalist and Presbyterians) felt a bias towards both Labour and Temperance. . They had a difficult choice.
When Labor won the Federal election in October 1910, its win was quietly accepted by dissenters. The Baptist
newspaper thought the party included “men of true Christian character” and The Methodist newspaper said, “many
of our own people in this state are intelligently and ardently attached to the Labor Party.” After there having been
initially very strong support of the Labor Party from working class Protestants, New South Wales entered a period
when proportionately more support for Labor came from Catholics.
Key terms
Evangelicals - a strand of Christianity found in most Protestant denominations. Evangelicals stress the authority of
the Bible and the need for individuals to make a personal commitment (or "be converted") to Jesus Christ because
of Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross. Conversion should be demonstrated by lives of social and evangelical
commitment.
Caucus – a private meeting of the parliamentary members of a political party to discuss policy and tactics
Test yourself
1. Explain why working class Protestants felt that their loyalties were divided between Labor and Liberal
parties in the early years of the twentieth century.
2. Explain why Christians from the dissenting traditions felt tension between following caucus and following
conscience.
Australia’s Catholic community experienced quite dramatic social, economic and political change in the 1950’s and
1960’s. Massive immigration changed Catholicism’s ethnic make up, full employment and continuous economic
growth assisted upward social mobility; the ‘sectarian strand’ faded and the historic association of the Catholic
Church with the ALP unravelled. Australian Catholic social thinking was increasingly radicalised and divided under
the impact of the politics of the Vietnam War and the influence of the Second Vatican Council. More Catholics
voted for the Liberal party in 1993 than voted for Labor. In the 1996 census, a higher percentage of Catholics had
University degrees than did Anglicans. Additionally, the fact that the Catholic Church is one of the largest nongovernment employers in Australia has shifted the orientation of “the” Catholic position in labour disputes and
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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discussions. Says Brennan, “When we celebrated the centenary of the great papal charter (Rerum Novarum) in
1991, it was clear that (Catholic) church leaders no longer saw themselves as the great champions of workers’
rights, in part because they were now one of the country’s major employers.” This is also because the nature of
work, and society, had changed over the century. So by the end of the twentieth century, the alignment of Catholics
with the labour movement was markedly different.
The Methodist and then Uniting churches consistently supported reform of working conditions. In 1916 a Methodist
minister, the Reverend F. Walker was given authority by the NSW Methodist Conference to work fulltime with the
Men’s Own Movement that Walker had just launched. He had a clear platform to reform society; he wanted to
change the system itself. The Men’s Own Movement made contact with the trade union officials and arranged
exchanges of delegations between the Trades Hall and the Methodist Conference. Welsh Methodist miners who
migrated to Australia were active unionists.
The Methodist Unemployment and Relief Fund (the Brotherhood (Relief) Committee) began from the Five Dock
church work in November 1929 and continued to give help to those in need beyond World War II. It sought money
from those who had it to give and jobs from those who could offer them. Men were then offered a period of casual
work and paid for it. This fitted in with the philosophy generally espoused by Methodists that the dole demoralised
men and that the offering of work was the best way to help.
Post World War II, the Methodist Social Service Department began work on principles of economic justice that
Conference could adopt.
In August 1949, a meeting of more than eighty Methodist ministers, including all those from the city and suburbs,
unanimously sent a deputation to Canberra to explore the possibility of church assistance in the resolution of the
strike on the Maitland coalfield. The collateral point was also made that Christian laypeople must play an
appropriate and active role in their unions and employer associations. One outcome was the notion of industrial
chaplaincy which gave an understanding of the problems of industry
In the inter-war years, the Presbyterian Social (later, Public) Questions Committee said “so much of our work is
stultified or undone by adverse social and economic conditions that are definitely un-Christian”. In 1967
Presbyterians also encouraged Church people to become actively involved in the affairs of their union, chamber of
commerce or professional body, as a necessary expression of their Christian faith in every day life. They urged
management and unions to foster consultation at the shop floor level.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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In 1999, several denominations, including the Catholics, Anglicans, Uniting Church and Churches of Christ took
steps to work on principles for employment. A roundtable conference on the church as an employer was held in
Canberra in 1999 involving the Australian Consolidated Trades Unions. Statements from the Catholic and Uniting
Churches have emphasised that

work is a principal means by which human beings seek their personal fulfilment

the conditions of work should be just, safe and fair

employers and employees should have the right of association

every worker has the right to strike where work is genuinely believed to be dangerous and as a last resort
in case of industrial disputes
B.A. Santamaria
B.A. (Bob) Santamaria’s parents came from Sicily and were strong Catholics. He grew up in Brunswick, Melbourne
where 40% of the people in his parish were out of work during the Depression. He believed in the necessity of
widespread ownership of productive property if families were to flourish. He believed that religion has much more
than a personal dimension, that it involved a view of justice as the basis of relationships between human beings.
Santamaria was for a while editor of The Catholic Worker. In 1942 he set up the Catholic Social Studies
Movement (often termed the Movement). This was a secretive organisation designed to take on and defeat
communism in Australia, especially in the Labor Party and the trade union movement. Later it was supported by the
non-religious Industrial Groups. From 1942, the Movement received funds from Daniel Mannix, the Catholic
Archbishop of Melbourne. After 1945 it was supported by the Catholic hierarchy throughout Australia. They had
initially asked some Protestant leaders for their cooperation but this was flatly refused because of sectarian
animosity. Santamaria said that “it was inescapable that the Movement would have one leg in the world of politics
and the other in that of religion”.
Labor Party leader H.V. Evatt’s attempts to assert his authority in the party by drawing attention to the danger
posed by the Groups led to a disastrous split in the party in the mid-1950’s, the formation of the Democratic Labor
Party (DLP) and the exclusion of Labor from national government until 1972. A determined and articulate anticommunist, Santamaria played an important role in this split. Until it folded in 1975 the DLP delivered first
preferences to the Coalition. Half of the Catholic hierarchy, led by Mannix, supported Santamaria and the DLP.
Half, led by Sydney’s Cardinal Gilroy, supported the continuing Labor Party. Eventually, the Vatican said it was
opposed to the Santamaria/Mannix position. But the Movement lived on, following a name change to the National
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Civil Council. The DLP was largely but never wholly Roman Catholic even in its Victorian heartland. The Split
reinforced the religious pluralism of Australian politics, decisively broke the unity of Catholics and brought
realignments in the Liberal-Country Party coalition. In the 1970’s, Santamaria publicly opposed feminism, gay
liberation, abortion, euthanasia and in-vitro fertilisation.
Muslims and the Labour Movement

In 1906, legislation was passed banning Macassan ships from coming to Australia. Macassa is part of
Indonesia and is largely Islamic. One motivation for the banning was the white Australian pearling interests
that sought to exclude Macassans by imposing custom taxes on visiting ships and by policing the northern
shores. Javanese also came for pearl fishing.

Before World War II, the Butchers’ Employees Union got police convictions against Muslims who butchered
meat on private land to ensure halal slaughter. Halal is meat from animals that has been slaughtered in
accordance with Muslim rites.

As with other Australians, Muslims experienced extreme hardship during the Great Depression.

Post- World War II, displaced persons from war-torn Europe migrating to Australia included Muslims from
Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary and Russia. Despite the fact that 10% of these Muslim migrants had tertiary
qualifications (at a time when the average of Australians with tertiary qualifications was 2-3%), Australian
Unions made sure they would not directly compete for jobs. They were sent on two-year contracts to
wherever labour was needed in mines, factories and farms.

Approval of Muslim burial practices was delayed by the Health Department and opposed by Unions. 1991
NSW Health Regulations require that all funerals in Australia have a coffin but it can be cardboard.
Today the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils:

organises and benefits from the halal meat trade;

assists in establishing schools; and

has overseen payment of Imams.
The Muslim Women’s National Network:

conducts English classes.

initially Muslim women found it difficult to obtain work because of their “hijab” or “veiled” form of dress but
now hijab is a common sight in banks and customer services.

There is a growing trade in locally produced halal products.

Large number of educated migrant Muslims are already filling professional positions and a growing number
of Australian born Muslims are moving into professional associations.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Test yourself
1. List six factors that created dramatic changes in Australia’s Catholic communities in the twentieth century.
Analyse the impact of these factors on Catholic alignment with the Labour movement.
2. Summarise the conclusions of the round table conference between the ACTU and Uniting and Catholic
Church delegates in 1999.
3. Critically analyse the contribution of B.A. Santamaria to the improving of conditions for Australian workers
in the period 1942 to 1975,
4. Compare the experiences of Muslim labourers with those of other Australians from 1901. In what ways did
Muslims experience particular difficulties?
Conscription
World War I (1914-1918)
Catholic
As the conscription debate polarised Australian society along class lines, so it had the same effect within the
Catholic Church.” In response to the conscription referendum of 1916, Catholic Bishops divided into pro-, anti- and
neutral.

Pro-conscription: Sydney’s Archbishop Kelly was founding Vice President of the Universal Service
League and Archbishop Clune of Perth cabled from the Western front endorsing the “Yes” case. Following
the 1916 Easter Uprising in Ireland, Archbishop Kelly circulated to other Catholic Bishops the text of a
proposed telegram in which he condemned the Irish eruption as “anti-patriotic, irrational and wickedly
irreligious.” All the Catholic bishops agreed except three Victorian Bishops - Phelan, Carr and Mannix.
Because there was not unanimous support, the telegram was not sent.

Anti-conscription: Melbourne Catholic Archbishop Mannix led huge “No” rallies. Some Catholics believed
that in doing this Mannix harmed the Mission of the Catholic Church. Being against conscription did not
mean being against the war.

Neutral bishops felt that it was not the place of the Church to enter into such a bitter public debate, or that
there was not an official stance which denominations should take.
Protestants
The issue was very divisive in these churches also.

Some Anglican state synods said conscription was right and then bemoaned the fact that lay people did
not vote according to the synod’s recommendations.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
The South Australia Methodist Conference decided to support the “Yes” vote but South Australia (with the
highest proportion of Methodists of any state) had the second highest proportion of “No” votes of any state
in Australia.

Many people were strongly in favour of the war but opposed to conscription for practical reasons (e.g.
soldiers at the front voted no as they did not want reluctant conscripts in the trenches with them),
philosophical reasons (e.g. the dissenter tradition of freedom of conscience) and emotional reasons (e.g.
grieving families).

Catholics made up 19% of the Australian population and yet 67% of Australians voted against conscription
so it is mathematically impossible to state that “all the Protestants voted in favour of conscription and all the
Catholics voted against conscription and the Catholics won”.
Jewish Response
Because they felt loyalty to the British Empire and wanted security against Germany, Jewish people supported
conscription. Rabbis Cohen (NSW) and Danglow (Vic) especially encouraged it.
World War II 1939-1945
Catholic Church
Following the 1939 Pact between Germany and the communist Soviets, Catholics like other Australian
denominations were even more suspicious of Germany because of the growing hostility to communism. Catholic
leaders therefore supported the war and the limited conscription that the Federal Government introduced in 1942.
One could not be conscripted to fight outside of Australia but could be conscripted to support the war effort at
home. Conscripts were sometimes derisively called “chocolate soldiers” (i.e. not real soldiers) by volunteer enlisted
men.
Jewish people also supported the limited conscription introduced.
Vietnam War
Catholic Bishops were in favour of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War and in favour of the National
Service (Conscription) Act.
Anglican Bishop Moyes of Armidale persuaded the Archbishops of Melbourne and Perth and seven diocesan
bishops to support him in an unsuccessful approach to Prime Minister Menzies to avoid Australian involvement in
the Vietnam conflict. But the Anglican theology of the state and the prevailing just-war theory tended to mean
more Anglicans were in favour of Australian involvement in Vietnam, and for conscription, than were against it.
Methodists consistently expressed concern about the inadequate provisions for conscientious objectors.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Australian Council of Churches also expressed concern about the inadequate conscientious objection
provisions in the conscription acts.
Test yourself
1. Name two Catholic bishops who were in favour of conscription in World War I and two Catholic bishops
who were against.
2. Give three reasons why people who might have been in favour of Australia’s involvement in World War I
were still against conscription.
3. Who were the ‘chocolate soldiers’ of World War II and why were they called that?
Wars
World War I
Muslims
During World War I, two Muslim Turks attacked a picnic train near Broken Hill. They were acting quite
independently yet the Broken Hill mines next day fired all “enemy aliens” and the Australian Prime Minister, Billy
Hughes, interned enemy aliens for the remainder of the war.
Key terms
Interned – to keep imprisoned until the end of a war.
Enemy aliens – a resident who has not acquired citizenship who is treated as an enemy.
Christians
When the government in 1911 moved to enact compulsory military training of boys and men it aroused some
opposition within the Methodist Church. Its newspaper stated, “The Christian churches must raise a united voice
against the lust for war and must try to abolish conscription.”
When war broke out, most of the churches felt similar responsibilities:

To encourage soldiers in right living;

To convert or reassure soldiers before they went to meet the enemy;

To provide chaplains (NSW Methodists were first to send full time chaplains to army camps). Under the
Geneva convention, chaplains do not carry arms, don’t command soldiers under normal circumstances,
and are always chaplains, even though they wear officer rank;

To comfort soldiers when they were confronted by death;
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present

To pray for soldiers;

To deliver the bad news of the death of a soldier to his family;

To console the families; and

To hold special services to remember the dead.
Lutherans
Anti-German sentiment in Australia was very strong. Lutheran schools were seen as German schools. In South
Australia, Lutheran schools were closed down, with barely a word of protest from leaders in other denominations.
This restriction was lifted in 1924 but most schools did not re-open. Lutherans of German descent were interned.
Methodists
In Britain, Lord Kitchener called for an army without drink and British Prime Minister Lloyd George stated, “We are
fighting Germany, Austria and drink and the greatest of these deadly foes is drink.” King George V announced that
he would abstain from and not serve liquor for the duration of the war. “Who will follow the King?” the editors of
Methodist newspapers in Australia asked. The campaign for early closing of hotels was supported eagerly and
successfully by Methodists in Australia. A pledge campaign was announced and every Methodist family was asked
to get 20 signatures of people willing to abstain from liquor and "to discourage the use of and traffic in the same
during the continuance of the war."
Evangelicals
In this period, most of the Protestant denominations in Australia (between 40 and 45% of the Australian population)
were evangelical in persuasion. There is circumstantial evidence to suggest that evangelicals enlisted in the
Australian Infantry Forces (AIF) in greater numbers than their proportion of the population. The dreadful death toll,
the spiritual malaise and disillusionment of the returned soldiers upon their return and their grieving made way for
a sense of having been used by the political establishment. The real cost of the war to them showed up later at the
time when those who died would have entered the leadership positions within their churches. Much of the best
evangelical energy, faith and leadership skills had been lost on the battlefields of Europe. The problem was
not that the churches had failed. Rather it was that they succeeded too well. They sacrificed more lives, energy and
resources to the war than their numbers could sustain.
Jewish responses included:

a high number of enlistments. Elsewhere they were experiencing persecution and humiliation but in the
British Empire, freedom and equality. They wanted security against the rise of Germany and, in World War
II, Japan as well. 13% of Jewish people eligible to enlist did so compared with 9.2% of the Australian
population as a whole.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present

provision of commissioned officers.

Lieutenant General John Monash was the most successful Jewish soldier. He was knighted in the field by
King George V (the first soldier being so knighted by a reigning monarch in two centuries).

Provision of Chaplains.

Voluntary work on the home front in various auxiliaries knitting socks etc.

Donations to Red Cross, Comforts Fund, Lord Mayor’s Patriotic Fund and Australia Day Appeal. In NSW
alone, the Jewish contribution to the Australia Day appeal raised £900,000 due to Rabbi Cohen’s work. His
philosophy was, if you can’t go and fight, give of your utmost in other ways. They resisted the formation of
a separate Jewish War Fund because they did not want to emphasise distinctiveness.

Jewish Australians of German descent were, like Lutherans of German descent, interned.
World War II
Though there was banning of Jehovah’s Witnesses between 1941 and 1943 and internment of Italian and
German nationals, they were not on the same scale as in the previous war. During the 1930s the peace
movement had grown strongly in the Methodist churches. (In 1932 the President of the Methodist Conference,
Reverend J.A. Burton, said that “War is, without question, the negation of all that Christ taught and meant.” The
Conference requested the Council of Newington College to disband the school’s cadet corps.) In 1941, Methodist
leader Rev.J.A. Burton again said, “The only activity Jesus mentioned in the Beatitudes was peacemaking.”
Anglican, Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian churches under Allan Walker’s guidance produced a
Maitland Coalfields Manifesto that: ‘Prayer for one side’s victory is unchristian, but we do join in prayers for a just
and enduring peace.”
Nonetheless as the church, like the community, settled down for the long haul of war it did the things that were
expected of it, regardless of whether or not it supported the war. All things they did for World War I they did again:

Chaplains;

Ministered to those who sorrowed; and

Provided entertainment for the young men in camp.
Service persons were:

blessed when they left;

kept in touch with whilst away;

honoured if they were wounded / killed; and

welcomed when they returned.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The advent of the atomic and hydrogen bombs meant that in 1949 NSW Methodist Conference declared that “War
today has become a supreme sin against God and a degradation of man”. Over the years the General Conference
gave a consistently strong lead in favour of peace without ever taking a totally pacifist position.
Jewish Response to WW II

Many immediately enlisted;

Others joined Sewing Bees and Red Cross activities; and

Special Jewish contributions to the war effort included the Monash Recreation Hut in Hyde Park and the
Martin Place Kiosk for Servicemen.
Vietnam War
The most divisive war for churches was the Vietnam War. By the mid-1960s, the Federal Government had made
the decision to commit Australian troops to Vietnam. The general question of peace and war was thereafter almost
entirely conducted within the context of the specific issues raised by that particular conflict. The issues debated
were:

whether or not it was right for Australia to join in a war of prevention in someone else’s country to save a
possible later war on its own soil;

whether or not that particular war was just;

whether or not the so-called domino theory was right;

whether or not it was moral for the government to conscript young men for the war in question, especially
by the means then employed;

whether or not the provisions for conscientious objection were adequate; and especially,

whether or not objection to a particular war should be allowed.
Catholic Bishops were the group most consistently in favour of the war. Methodists were most consistently against.
Rev. Allan Walker led moratorium rallies. Rev. Trathen, the Headmaster of Newington College, publicly urged that
young men should defy the National Service Act and refuse to be conscripted. Newington Council dismissed him
and the NSW Methodist Conference reinstated him!
East Timor
In East Timor in 1999, ecumenism (co-operation between Christian denominations) was very evident. Similarly,
during the civil war in Ambon (Indonesia) the Muslim Council of Australia and the National Council of Churches
Australia (N.C.C.A.) held a combined Prayers for Peace rally in Martin Place The N.C.C.A. is an example of
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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ecumenism and the combined Prayers for Peace rally is an example of inter-faith dialogue. See other examples in
Section 2.4.1.
War on Terrorism after September 11, 2001
During the increase in world tension following terrorist attacks in the USA on September 11, 2001, Australian
leaders of religious traditions were vocal and unanimous in calling for calm and for understanding. Tarek Kadri,
President of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Muslim Society sent an e-mail to all UTS students and
staff on Thursday, 13th September, 2001. It read, “Muslims across Australia join their fellow Australians in
condemning the acts of terrorism and share the grief and sorrow of those innocent brothers and sisters in Islam and
humanity that have been affected by this tragedy. As we learned more and more about this crime against humanity
we too shed tears for the victims. We join with all Australians in calling for the swift apprehension and punishment
of the perpetrators. Australian Muslims across Australia have arranged for special prayers for world peace and
harmony to be held in all mosques. We ask UTS students and staff and all Australians not to associate these
crimes with Muslims. These immoral acts are un-Islamic. Let us all unite as Australians and call for justice to be
done and for peace to be restored, and may no more innocent people suffer from these horrible acts.” They
received strong support from Christian groups as well as Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist groups. (See also 2.4.1 InterFaith Dialogue.)
Test Yourself
1. List eight contributions made by all churches to soldiers and their families in World War I.
2. Identify one result of World War I for Lutherans, 1 for Methodists and 1 for evangelicals.
3. Recall the contributions of Australian people in the Christian and Jewish religious traditions to World War II.
4. Summarise the issues debated by Australian churches in reference to the Vietnam War.
5. Recount the experiences of Rev. Trathen during the Vietnam War.
6. Read the response of the President of the UTS Sydney Muslim Society after the events of September 11,
2001. What are the Australian people being asked to do or be?
The Great Depression (from 1929 until the end of 1930’s)
The experience of the Great Depression and then of World War II promoted discussion of social issues and
structures, and most churches had Christian Social Order or Social Questions Committees. In the Anglican Church,
there was the Christian Social Order Movement led by W.G. Coghlan. This promoted discussion of the post-war
order, concentrating on issues thrown up by the Great Depression such as unemployment and social security.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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During the crisis of the Great Depression itself, in the late 1920’s and 1930’s, churches tended to focus on
relief rather than structures. Their response was palliative (easing the pain) rather than addressing the
underlying causes. An exception was Anglican minister Ernest Burgmann (then at Morpeth near
Newcastle) who publicly criticised the church and viewed the corruption of capitalism as the cause of the
depression. (See Case Study on Anglican Bishop E.H. Burgmann in Section 2.1.1.)

Anglican Minister Robert Hammond established 110 families on small blocks on the outskirts of Sydney,
called “Hammondville”. (See Section on Hammond in Public Morality in 2.1.1.)

“The pursuit of mild reform coupled with energetic rescue work was the aim of Sydney’s Central Methodist
Mission rather than radical change and political involvement.” (Stuart Piggin, historian, Master of Robert
Menzies College, and author of Evangelical Christianity in Australia. Spirit, Word and World. Oxford
University Press, 1996, p. 89). See also the Methodist Brotherhood in Section 2.2.2 on the Labour
Movement.

The Catholic St Vincent De Paul had an emphasis on food, clothing and housing rather than long term
solutions. Brisbane Catholic Archbishop Duhig established thousands of unemployed Catholic youth on
farms.
Religious responses to issues
<d> 1. Abortion
See Section 4.3.1
<d> 2. Divorce
Official Vatican teaching is that marriage is a sacrament and that it is not the place of a state or national
government to dissolve or undo something that is meant to last as long as both persons are alive. In practice,
sympathetic Catholic priests in Australia will re-marry divorced Catholics. Annulments are possible. Australian
Bishops fought against the easing of divorce requirements in each state. The Presbyterians’ NSW Assembly
supported the extension of grounds for divorce in the 1960’s. Baptists also supported the extension. See also
Section 4.3.1.
<d> 3. Euthanasia
See Section 4.3.1.
4.Gambling
Christian responses

Throughout the twentieth century and before they joined the Uniting Church in 1977, Methodist bodies
consistently opposed all forms of gambling. They regarded gambling as a pernicious social evil with serious
ramifications in the lives of the people. They refused to allow members to use any form of gambling such
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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as raffles for church fund raising. As the twentieth century progressed, the legalisation of the Totalisator
Agency Board (TAB) and the introduction of the State lottery occurred. Methodists objected to the lottery
above other forms of gambling because it set the State’s imprimatur on gambling. Methodists considered it
a major weakness in the Roman Catholic Church that it used raffles to raise money.

From the very beginning the evangelical Anglican Bush Church Aid Society refused to allow gambling or
card parties as a method of raising funds.

In 1925, the Presbyterian minister Terras said “Every act of gambling defaces still more in us the image of
God in which we were created. It fosters a covetous disposition.”

A Public Affairs Committee was appointed by the Baptist Assembly in 1966 and was active from then
onwards. In 1971 it wanted research into gambling, particularly moral issues and the elimination of the
causes of gambling. The Baptist Inner City Ministries provide referrals for counselling for problem
gamblers, work with the government and gambling industry to encourage improvements in the response to
problem gambling, and contribute to the responsible planning and action policies directed towards the
increasing health and social problem of gambling.

Newcastle Uniting Church City Mission runs a Gambling Recovery Project.

The Catholic Jesuit Social Services released a 1999 report on Asian gambling called Family Losses and
called on Victoria’s Tabcorp to consider its findings. Catholic Social Services in Melbourne has joined with
Baptist minister Tim Costello in calling on governments to take action on the impacts of gambling. The St
Vincent de Paul Society offers the Game program (which includes financial counselling and goal-oriented
therapy) to problem gamblers. In 1999 the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council published a pamphlet,
The Nature and Justification of Gambling by Will Barrett, Senior Research Assistant in the Centre for
Philosophy and Public Issues at the University of Melbourne. It examined the moral issues involved in
gambling and whether they sat with good public policy. After examining arguments for and against legal
gambling, it asked “Should public policy be based solely on the satisfaction of desires, even if there is no
good reason for the activity? Good public policy aims at the co-ordination of the long-term interests of
individuals and the community as a whole.”
<Insert Fig. 2.2.6a - Photo:
Caption: Melbourne Baptist Ministers Reverends Rowena Curtis and Tim Costello support Melbourne's InterChurch Task Force on Gambling
<end Fig. 2.2.6 a photo>
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Not until the late 1990’s did the Protestant and Catholic churches begin to be more unified in their
opposition to the widespread and easy availability of gambling in Australia with such groups as the
ecumenical Inter-Church Gambling Task Force.
Buddhist
In 2001 a group led by Gillian Coote from the Buddhist Peace Fellowship ran an 8-week meditation course at the
Sydney Zen Centre. It was called Ground of Well Being and was for recovery from the addiction of gambling.
In 2001, the gambling industry in Australia was worth $133 billion. $13.3 billion was lost - $1.69 billion at the races,
$11.6 billion at the casinos and gambling venues and $41.4 million through sports fixture betting. This means $931
per adult was lost.
<Insert Test Yourself>
Test Yourself
1. Outline the way Protestant churches moved from disapproval of their own members gambling to working for
harm minimisation in the general community.
2. Name three Christian denominations and for each, state a specific activity undertaken to help problem gamblers.
3. Identify one religious tradition other than Christianity that is working with people addicted to gambling and
describe that religious tradition’s activity.
<end Test Yourself>
Indigenous Rights
Muslim leaders and the Australian Council of Churches were unanimous on issues of justice and morality relating
to the Mabo decision.
Buddhists had 50 members from the Buddhist Zen Centre in Sydney march under the Buddhist Peace Fellowship
BPF banner in the March 2000 Bridge Walk for Reconciliation. BPF ran a 3-month study circle on reconciliation in
2001 and in August 2001 held a reconciliation stall at Moocaboola Fair Sydney.
Christianity
In 1965 the Methodist General Conference passed a motion for Aboriginal Land Rights. “If Aboriginal people wish
to integrate, it argued, they should be closely consulted with and respected. If they wish to remain distinctively
Aboriginal, they must be respected and given financial assistance. Aboriginal people must be involved in policy
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
making. If they choose integration, they must be encouraged to preserve and develop Aboriginal languages and
culture.”
The 1998 and 2001 Anglican General Synods made statements affirming the recommendations of the “Bringing
them home” report, recognition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and the need for reconciliation.
Anglicans also agreed with Native Title and the denial of Terra Nullius. The 2001 Anglican General Synod had
indigenous delegates representing not a diocese but the indigenous people of Australia. Extensive programs are
run by the Anglican Church Missionary Society and the Anglican Board of Missions among indigenous community
groups in northern Australia and by the Bush Church Aid Society in outback areas. In Queensland, indigenous
students make up about 6% of the total number of students in Queensland, yet of the 30,800 teachers in the state,
only 185 are from indigenous backgrounds. Whilst 77% of non-Aboriginal students complete high school, only 34%
of indigenous students did. In 1999 the Queensland Anglican Schools System launched an indigenous education
policy. Key parts of the policy were to increase educational opportunities for indigenous students, encourage
greater cultural understanding, draw on the rich traditions of cultures, laws and heritage of indigenous Australians
and build a partnership between indigenous and non-indigenous people. The policy was developed with input from
Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders, teachers, students and Anglican Schools Commission members and staff.
Author John Harris’ book, We Wish We’d Done More: Ninety Years of Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS)
and Aboriginal Issues in North Australia was commissioned by the CMS to examine the society’s performance in
relation to key issues such as Aboriginal culture, land rights and the “stolen generation”. John Harris has been
given a place in the Aboriginal kinship system and his ‘brother’, Galiliwa Nunggarragalu, and ‘niece’, Ginyibuwa
Murrungun, attended the book launch. Harris’ overall analysis of the society’s performance in north Australia was
that it did ‘much more good than it ever did any harm’. There were a handful of individuals who failed CMS by brutal
or immoral behaviour. They were exceptions among the more than 500 CMS missionaries who had shown great
compassion and genuinely shared the life of the people. The mission began because CMS wanted to protect
Aboriginal people from the widespread exploitation and slaughter that ravaged the north at the beginning of last
century.
The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conferences have issued media releases seeking forgiveness from the “Stolen
Generation”, supporting National Sorry Day and being in solidarity with Reconciliation.
“Pilgrimage to the Heart” in 2000 brought together leaders and young people from Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox,
Uniting, Anglican, Salvation Army and other Christian denominations on a bus journey of reconciliation from
Canberra to Uluru. It was co-ordinated by the National Council of Churches Australia.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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In the period of negotiation over the Federal Governments Native Title legislation in 1993, Aboriginal leaders
acknowledged to the General Secretary of the Australian Council of Churches that at certain key moments during
the Mabo negotiations, it was the voice of the churches which may have tipped the balance.
The Uniting Church’s Covenanting Co-Ordinator is an important position. In 1987, on the tenth anniversary of
the Uniting Church, Professor Ian Breward said, “If the Uniting Church had done nothing else but create the
Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress at the 1985 Assembly, it would have more than justified its
life since 1977.” (Trinity Occasional Papers VI, no. 2, December 1987, p.5.)
Wik
In a response to racial debate sparked by independent MP Pauline Hanson, the Weekend Australian of 22
December 1996 carried appeals by religious leaders for racial tolerance.

Archbishop Stylianos of the Greek Orthodox said that God loved the entire human race;

Catholic Cardinal Clancy said that refugees such as the East Timorese were being denied elementary
compassion and that our Aboriginal brothers and sisters were still grossly disadvantaged;

the Anglican primate reminded Australians that Jesus Christ belonged equally to every race; and
Churches of Christ, Uniting, Lutheran and Baptist leaders echoed these sentiments.
In the following year, letters, editorial and other newspaper pages were overwhelmed by discussion on whether
religious groups should offer an opinion on Wik. They were spurred by comments from the Queensland pastoralist
MP Warren Entsch, who in his role as chairman of the parliamentary Wik legislation committee said country people
should boycott churches because “they didn’t represent the facts” (Sydney Morning Herald Nov 21 1997, p.7). The
churches were united in their criticism of the efforts of the Howard government to water down the Wik legislation.
The combined voice of Australia’s main religious bodies – the Catholic, Anglican, Uniting, Lutheran and
Presbyterian Churches, the Federation of Islamic Councils and the Jewish Board of Deputies significantly
increased the pressure on the government.
In 1998, Pauline Hanson called for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission to be abolished, because,
amongst other things, it was racist. In an open letter to newspapers, leaders from the Uniting, Catholic, Anglican
and Baptist churches defended ATSIC, saying that it was uniquely equipped to deliver outcomes to indigenous
people. For other responses to the Wik and Mabo debates, see Sections 1.4 and 1.5.
Jewish responses

The Aboriginal side’s barrister against the Government in the Mabo case was a Jewish man, Ron Castan.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
Jim Spigelman who accompanied Charles Perkins on the 1965 “Freedom Rides” (and who later became
Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court) is Jewish.

The Jewish organisations “B’Nai Brith” and the Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD) have invited Aboriginal
leaders to address them.

The JBD sponsored Federal Senator Aden Ridgeway on a study tour of Israel.

A “Sea of Hands” has become a symbol of reconciliation and Jewish people had a “Sea of Hands”
ceremony on Bondi Beach in 1998.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry supported the Declaration for Reconciliation in 1999 and has
expressed deep sorrow and regret for the treatment of indigenous Australians in the past.
A Jewish group, “Australian Friends of the Hebrew University” gave a scholarship to an Aboriginal doctor,
Alex Brown, to get a Masters Degree in Public Health in Jerusalem. Alex Brown is now in Public Health in
Alice Springs.
Test Yourself
1. Outline some Anglican responses to indigenous rights.
2. Assess the contribution of Sir Ronald Wilson in gaining recognition for the Stolen Generation.
3. Pauline Hanson, John Howard and Warren Entsch all made comments about the Wik Debate. Summarise the
responses by religious leaders to those comments.
4. List at least four contributions by the Australian Jewish community to indigenous rights.
<end test yourself>
6. Poverty
Catholics explain their approach to social responsibilities as coming from a sacramental theology. They believe
that the poor or sick person is ‘another Christ’. The Catholic Social Service Bureau began in the 1930’s. This was
the beginning of the trend towards the professionalisation of Church social work. The work of the Catholic
Commission for Justice and Peace really took off after 1978 with the publication of the Social Justice Statement,
Aborigines: A Statement of Concern. In 1994 David Cappo, the national director of the Australian Catholic Social
Welfare Commission based in Canberra said that they were very supportive of the parenting allowance aimed at
women in the Federal Government’s white paper on employment and growth, low interest rates, removal of the
GST from food and the emergence of the family as a key policy issue.
The Protestant approach tends to be based on the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:40, “Whenever you did this for
one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.”
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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In 1967, Presbyterians wanted congregations to accept a greater pastoral concern for single parent families,
urged the Australian Government to consider the introduction of a Lone-Parent benefit for fathers as well as
mothers and requested the Australian Government in co-operation with the States to take over responsibility for
enforcing maintenance orders in relation to deserted parents. In 1977, the Report of the Baptist Church-State
Relations Commission of NSW said that “It is the responsibility of every Christian to use his influence and
citizenship rights for the betterment of his fellow man, to be the salt of earth (Matt 5:13,14) and to carry into
municipal and political activity the law and spirit of Christ.” The Assembly said that “The institutional church is
entitled to make specific pronouncements on moral and religious issues even though political and economic issues
are involved.” Whilst not as strong as Catholic Cardinal Clancy’s stance that the church was “obliged” to speak out
on issues, this was still a significant step for Baptists. The Baptist Assembly still acknowledged, however, that such
involvement was more the concern of the individual Christian than the institutional body. Other favourite targets for
church leaders are prison reform, refugees, overseas aid and resistance to economic rationalism. Uniting Church
spokesperson Harry Herbert said in 1993, “unemployment was a bigger moral issue than sex”.
In 1999 the Anglican Church’s welfare agency, Anglicare, commissioned a discussion paper which made a strong
case for excluding food from the GST. It was written by an eminent economist, Professor John Neville of the
University of NSW. Anglicare wrote to all Federal MPS calling for food to be excluded. The chairman of Anglicare,
Bishop Andrew Curnow, said that “Taxing food weighs four times more heavily on the poor than the rich. It is a
grossly inequitable tax.”
In 1994, the National Council of Churches replaced the Australian Council of Churches and was the first formal
alliance between the Catholic Church and other leading Christian faiths. Representing 85% of the country’s
Christians, it could prove to be the country’s most powerful lobby group. It has lobbied governments about the dole,
the GST on food and boosting the Aboriginal health budget
<Insert Fig. 2.2.6 c pie graph - volunteers>
Volunteers
700,000 Australian Protestants attend church once a month a more.
Of these 40% (or 280,000 church-goers) do regular volunteer work including:
5% who voluntarily assist people with non-English speaking backgrounds
8% who are voluntarily involved in counselling
18% who work in voluntary activities involving children and youth.
<end Fig. 2.2.6 c pie graph>
“The investment in society by Christian volunteers should be neither underestimated nor undervalued.”
Taking Stock, National Christian Life Survey (NCLS) and Catholic Church Life Survey (CCLS), Open Book, 1999.
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“The lesson for those who don’t go to church regularly is not to discount a faith that emphasises service to others
unless you want to see just how cold the invisible hand of the free market can be.”
Chris McGillion, Sydney Morning Herald, August 10, 1999.
19% of Catholics who attend mass at least monthly are also involved in service, welfare or social justice activities
intended to reach beyond the Catholic community.
Sexuality
The Semitic religious traditions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) teach that sexuality is a gift and is part of being
human. The Indus religious traditions (Hinduism and Buddhism) also view sexuality positively. Hinduism teaches
that it is one’s duty (dharma) to enjoy sexual relations abundantly but only within marriage. The lack of a safety net
of state benefits in India meant that, culturally, Hindus were encouraged to have many children but Hindus in
Australia practice responsible contraception. For Buddhists, the underlying principles are motivation and intention:
wholesome actions bring happiness and peace.
Some Christian responses

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the prospect of mildly liberalised divorce law caused much more
consternation among Anglicans than unemployment and most Australian church people were opposed to
contraception. In the interwar period, Protestants came to accept contraception as proper within marriage.
In 1968, Pope Paul VI overruled the expert advice that he had received and reasserted the Catholic
Church’s traditional prohibition of artificial birth control in a papal encyclical Humanae Vitae. Many Catholic
families use informed conscience: in Australia today, as many Catholic couples use artificial contraception
as Protestant couples.

In 1967 Presbyterians supported repeal of the Act which made Homosexuality a crime.

Catholic bishops fought the process working for the decriminalisation of homosexuality nearly every step
of the way. Rainbow Sash is a homosexual group lobbying for the acceptance of homosexuals in the
Catholic Church. In 1999 Melbourne Rainbow Sash members presented themselves for Holy Communion.
The then Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Pell, refused them. In Canberra Bishop Power refused the
group Holy Communion but welcomed them and sympathised with their argument.

In 1974 the Baptist Public Affairs Committee still felt that homosexuality was a deviation and that
homosexuals needed psychiatric help. It advocated, however, that laws which prohibited homosexual acts
between consenting adults in private should be repealed.

According to Rev. Dr. Ann Wansbrough, UnitingCare’s Research and Liaison officer, the Uniting Church
National Assembly Task Group on Sexuality and Faith reported in 1966 that the Uniting Church:
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Recognised areas of moral debate about homosexuality and sexual relationships that some other
churches denied

Recognised that family takes many different forms in Australian society.

Acknowledged that its councils debating such issues included women and men and lay people as
well as clergy


Talked about living as friends of God and of one another.

Set out the following elements as right in sexual relationships:

honesty

trust

faithfulness

equality and mutuality

vulnerability

freedom and responsibility

setting limits and self-control

giving and receiving affection and pleasure

communication

discovering intimacy.
The code of ethics for ministers in the Uniting Church imposes rules that forbid sexual relationships with
those in one’s pastoral care. Apart from this, most of the code of ethics is in the form of principles.

In 2001, Anthony Albanese proposed a bill in Federal Parliament that Australian law be changed to
recognise same sex marriages in superannuation claims following death. The Catholic Australian Family
Association and the Baptist Salt Shakers opposed the Bill on the grounds that it threatened the institution
of marriage. The bill was unsuccessful.

The diversity of the Uniting Church approach can be seen in the attitudes to the Sydney (gay) Mardi Gras.
The Festival of Light formed by Uniting Church minister Rev Fred Nile, and now called the Call to Australia
Party, takes an active stand against homosexuality and the Gay Mardi Gras. In 1998 140 Uniting Church
members including 17 ministers participated in the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras. In 1997 Dorothy Mc Rae a
Uniting Church Minister and Director of Mission for the Uniting Church declared herself a homosexual.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church is particularly outspoken in not condoning same sex marriages
and in disapproving of the ordination of practising homosexuals.
Jewish response
Orthodox Jewish teaching is that

Sexual intercourse is permissible only within a context of commitment and responsibility, that is, in
marriage.

A man may never force his wife to have sex and they should abstain when she is menstruating. Some
rabbis extended the abstinence period to 12 days!

Male masturbation is forbidden and in females it is discouraged.
The diversity of Jewish responses to homosexuality is reflected in responses when Jewish people marched in the
Mardi Gras carrying pink placards in the shape of Stars of David. Some Jewish people saw this as valuable openness, others were condemnatory.
Muslim Response
Islam teaches that sex should be confined to marriage – for mutual satisfaction, closeness and compassion.
Contraception is acceptable. Homosexuality, because it takes place outside a heterosexual marriage, is forbidden.
The role of women
Jewish
Wife and mother are considered the most important roles a woman can have.
In the home, a Jewish mother is responsible for:
Sabbaths and festivals

Creating the atmosphere

Demonstrating hospitality

Expressing Judaism as a lifestyle
In the Jewish place of worship, the synagogue,

Reformed Jewish people do not have men and women segregated.

There are female cantors and a female rabbi in both Sydney and Melbourne.

Orthodox Jewish people have men and women segregated for worship and do not have women leading
men in prayer or worship.
<Insert Fig. 2.2.6d Photo>
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
Caption: female students at an Orthodox Jewish school sit separately during worship >
<end Fig. 2.2.6d photo >
Work and Society
In all sections of Jewish life women are:

on educational committees;

in secular careers; and

active in the community.
Islamic
Home and family
As in Judaism and Christianity, many Muslim women believe that there is a distortion between the Islamic ideal and
the realities of some Muslim women’s lives.
The Qu’ran gives Muslim women the right to

payment for breast-feeding;

payment for doing housework;

retain their own name on marriage and following divorce; and

inherit.
The mosque

Neither Shi’ite nor Sunni women can be an imam at the mosque because of female menstruation.

Men and women are segregated in worship at the mosque.
Workplace and Society

Muslim women can be more “visible” in Australian society when they wear the hijab.

Young Muslim women in Australia are choosing to wear the hijab which their mothers and grandmothers
won the right to discard.

There is an emphasis for Muslim women on submission, obedience, modesty and chastity.

They are encouraged to have employment outside the home and to develop careers.
<insert key terms icon and breakout box>
Key terms
ordain - for the religious institution to give a person the authority to carry out functions reserved for the minister or
priest, to make them a member of the clergy. There can be levels of ordination (e.g. deacon, priest in the Catholic
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
Church) or different ministries to which a person can be ordained (e.g. Minister of Deacon, Minister of the Word in
the Uniting Church).
Shi’ite – a variant in Islam. Believers give a special leadership role to the descendants of the Prophet Muhammed.
Sunni – a major branch or variant in Islam. Believers do not give a special role to the descendants of the founder,
basing leadership on charismatic qualities.
Hijab – a traditional garment worn by Muslim women which covers the body, revealing only the face and hands.
<End key terms>
Christianity
Home and family
All denominations view marriage as the best place to express a committed sexual relationship. The wife should be
a husband’s highest priority and children are considered a joy and a blessing. See also Sexuality in this section.
Church
Anglican

The Australian General Synod (National Parliament) voted in favour of women deacons in 1986. In 1992, it
passed legislation that allowed each diocesan synod to vote on whether women could be priests in their
diocese. Eighteen out of 23 dioceses did so.

There are no Anglican women bishops in Australia yet.

The Movement for the Ordination of Women was an Anglican organisation that has changed its name to
MOW Watch to work for ordination in those dioceses where it has not yet occurred and for industrial issues
for all women clergy.
Catholic

The Ordination for Catholic Women movement has been an activist organisation since 1994 but to date
Catholics have not ordained women.

Women and The Australian Church (WATAC) is another voice for women in the Catholic Church.
Uniting

The Uniting Church has many women Ministers and has had women as state Moderators. There has
been one female National President.
The Gospel and Gender Commission and the Feminist Uniting Network (FUN) agitate for inclusiveness within the
Uniting Church.
<d> Unemployment (See also sections on Labour Movement, Poverty and the Great Depression)
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
As noted in the material in Section 2.1.1 with reference to some Christian contribution to laws and the
constitution, and to public morality, churches and Christian individuals have pushed for people’s right to
useful employment. This stems from an understanding of the creation stories in the Bible. In Genesis 1
and 2, people being stewards of the earth and taking care of the earth was part of the nature and purpose
of being human.

Whilst churches have supported the provision of unemployment benefits, they have been critical of aspects
of work for the dole and literacy for the dole programs if there was an implied element of punishment in
these programs.

During the waterfront disputes in Melbourne in 1998, Justice Beach placed an injunction that ordinary
people could not peacefully protest in the vicinity of the docks. Anglican Minister Rev. Alan Nichols went to
Swanson East Dock at the invitation of the Australian Consolidated Trade Union, to say that Australians
should not tolerate this intrusion into the democratic right to protest. A thousand picketers cheered. Nichols
felt that a right of conscientious objection has a long Christian history and that Christian history was full of
stories of people standing up for the right to oppose governments and other authorities.

The whole trade union movement arose from the Methodist laypeople in England standing with the
workers, concerned about pay, conditions and safety issues. All the early trade union leaders were active
Christians, stemming from the Christian doctrine of conscience.

WorkVentures, which grew out of a local Anglican parish in Malabar, New South Wales, is now one of
Australia’s most innovative employment, training and economic development agencies.
<Insert Test Yourself>
Test Yourself
1. In looking at Social Welfare in Section 2.1.1, it was explained that there were two main parts to the
churches responses to poverty – (1) contributing to public policy debates and (2) the provision of welfare
services. Summarise ways in which churches have lobbied for the removal of some underlying causes of
poverty.
2. Identify some ways in which Christian volunteers work on relieving the impact of poverty. (See also Social
Welfare in Section 2.1.1).
3. Explain the diversity of responses to homosexuality in two religious traditions.
4. Find similarities and differences in the roles of women in Islam and Judaism.
5. Compare and contrast the roles of women in at least two denominations in Christianity.
<end test yourself>
Religious plurality and increasing diversity
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
In Australia, the increase in religious plurality that occurred after World War II generally refers to the greater
number of Christian strands, denominations and variants that resulted from a greatly expanded immigrationdrawing area. The increase in religious diversity generally refers to the greater number of religious traditions that
had significant representation here (Buddhism, Sikhism, Taoism, and Hinduism) after the ending of the White
Australia policy as well as the growth in New Ageism and the growing acceptability of No Religion.
Religious plurality (the numbers of denominations within Christianity) has increased since 1901. The extent of
religious diversity (that is of significant numbers of people from other world religions that are also found and
practised in Australia) has also increased. Since 1901, changing migration patterns, shifting patterns of belief and
disbelief, the formation of the Uniting Church in 1977, growing acceptance of New Age practices, conversions,
denomination-switching especially with the growth of charismatic movements, growth in No-Religion (for example
as a census category) and the use of electronic media (so that people are spiritually connected without having to
assemble in a local congregation) have all had a major impact on patterns of religious observance in Australia.
Reasons for increased plurality and greater diversity
Sources of increased religious plurality and
diversity in Australia since 1901:
Changing
Electronic media
migration patterns
New Age
spiritualities
Conversions
Charismatic
movement
Formation of
Uniting Church
Growth of No
Religion
Immigration
Under the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 (which became more commonly known as the White Australia
Policy) the migrants who were allowed into Australia were those who wouldn’t change Australia’s by now
essentially British/European culture. It was assimilationist. The immigrant was expected to settle into the preexisting culture and society without causing any noticeable change – learn English, eat traditionally English-style
food and blend in. As Gary Bouma says in an Australian Government Publication in 1994 (Mosques and Muslim
Settlement in Australia), “The host society mirrored the sending society in religious orientation and institutions.”
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
In the nineteenth century Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Jewish people came to Australia, but not in large
numbers. Federation and the White Australia Policy even caused some people from other religious traditions such
as Chinese Buddhists to have to leave Australia.
The number of Christian Orthodox streams increased with the post World War II policy of “populate or perish”. A
significant number of Jewish refugees came before and after World War II. The numbers of adherents of other
religious traditions only increased significantly with the ending of the White Australia policy as a basis for
immigration. There has also been an increase in the number of refugees accepted into Australia who practise a
world religion other than Christianity. Although today the majority of indigenous Australians claim some form of
Christianity, there has been a resurgence of interest in and awareness of indigenous spirituality, and a desire to
integrate indigenous customs in Christian expression. This contextualising of theology has also resulted in an
increased diversity of religious expression in Australia. (See Sections 1.1.4 and 1.5.)
In the post-World War II era, there was enthusiasm for immigration into Australia, reflected in the slogan “Populate
or perish”. By the early 1960’s, immigration from traditional sources (the United Kingdom, Ireland and northern
Europe) was lessening but the need for labour was still high. By then, the proportion of immigrants who were
Catholic was already increasing, as more people were coming from Europe. The percentage and diversity of
Orthodox Christians also increased. In the 1960’s, the Cold War meant that there were still refugee groups needing
a safe haven. The percentage of Australians going to University was increasing and the economy was changing.
The White Australia Policy was increasingly criticised, by religious and other groups. There was internal debate
about the war in Vietnam.
Many migrants came by ship, especially southern Europeans, but in recent decades they have arrived by plane.
Migrants tend to settle in the city where their international flight first lands. More international flights first land in
Sydney or Melbourne than in, say Hobart or Adelaide. The proportion of Catholics in Australia has increased with
changed migration patterns since World War II and particularly so in Sydney and Melbourne. Most overseas born
Catholics in Australia today come from Italy, the U.K. and the Philippines.
The increase in religious diversity in twentieth century Australia is both a reflection of the increase in the number of
denominations in the world and changing patterns of immigration into Australia. Some Christian denominations
(such as Pentecostals) have only begun in the last 130 years. Others existed elsewhere in the world but only
became represented in Australia as migration and refugee patterns changed.
Caption: Declining proportion of Protestants to Catholics reflecting immigration to Australia 1861-2001
In 1861, the percentage of Protestants compared with Catholics in Australia was 64% compared with.24%;
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
in 1891 64% compared with 23%;
in 1921 68% compared with 22%.
By 1961 it was still 54% compared with 27%
By 1996 it was 44% compared with 27%.
By 2001 it was 35% compared with 27%.
Ending of the White Australia Policy
By the 1980s the White Australia Policy had been phased out and multiculturalism became the expected outcome
of expanded immigration – with language, architecture and religious composition becoming much more diverse.
There were more migrants from Asia and central Europe which not only increased the pluralism within Christianity,
it also increased the diversity of other religious traditions. Muslims who had experienced persecution or repression
in Bosnia-Herzegovina, or where there have been wars in their home country such as Lebanon, migrated to
Australia. Australian society changed, for instance,

there are mosques and Islamic schools around Sydney;

shops sell halal meat;

imams speak the expatriates’ language;
The importance of religion for the expatriates has tended to increase following their arrival in Australia. This is
because meeting together at the mosque, temple or ethnic church is an opportunity to hear the native tongue, catch
up on news from their “home” society and be in a familiar culture. Religious centres have become host to language
schools, cultural societies and sporting clubs.
<Insert key term icon and breakout box>
Key Terms
expatriates - people for whom the country in which they are now living is not their country of birth.
assimilation - when groups of different ethnic heritage acquire the dominant national culture.
multiculturalism - the policy that follows from recognising that it good for a country to have no single culture
dominant.
pluralism - to have more than one of the same type of thing.
diversity - to have many different types of things.
Imam – a Muslim religious leader or chief.
Although people think of Buddhism as the fastest growing non-Christian religion in Australia, between the 1991 and
1996 census Hinduism grew the fastest, by 54%. Recent Hindu arrivals are highly educated – 38% have
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
university degrees compared with 10% of all Australians generally. A lot of Anglo-Celtic Australians people adopt
Buddhist practices but only a few have actually converted to Buddhism. Most Buddhist practices occur at home. In
1996 just fewer than 200,000 people identified themselves as followers of the Buddha. By the 2001 census, it had
risen to 360,000.
The number of Jewish people in Australia is a contentious figure because some people consider themselves ethnic
Jews rather than religious Jews.
Expressions of Judaism in Australia

6% class themselves as Strictly Orthodox Jews

34% as Orthodox or traditional Jews

15% as Liberal or Progressive Jews

45% as secular or ethnic Jews.
Test Yourself
1. Explain the difference between plurality and diversity.
2. Explain the difference between assimilationist and multicultural migration policies.
3. Outline in general terms the changing proportions of Protestants to Catholics in the last 100 years.
4. Evaluate the impact on Australian society of greater plurality and diversity.
Uniting Church
In 1920, a basis of union document was first submitted to the membership of the three churches that were
contemplating union, Presbyterians, Methodists and Congregationalists. They were preaching almost identical
versions of the Gospel and the theological differences which once had separated them were no longer current
issues. None of them regarded as essentials the matters of church government and forms of worship in which they
differed. The three denominations did not eventually unite, however, until June 1977. Overall the votes were 69% of
Presbyterians in favour, 83% of Methodists in favour and 75% of Congregationalists in favour. Unlike the other two
denominations, Presbyterians were given a second referendum which gave them the option of uniting or remaining
in a continuing Presbyterian Church. In lightly populated states like Western Australia, the practical reasons for
union were compelling and 85% voted in favour. In New South Wales only 60% voted for union. The reasons given
by Continuing Presbyterian individuals deciding against union included that the new denomination had;

inadequate doctrinal standards;

not sufficient recognition of the office of elder; and also that
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
that “The Assembly had caused grievous division”.
So whilst all Methodist, and the vast majority of Congregationalist congregations became Uniting, there has been
since union a smaller and narrower but continuing Presbyterian Church. The Uniting Church in Australia was
formed on 22 June 1977 with Davis McCaughey its first National Assembly President. One regulation was that for
the first five years after Union, all decision-making bodies in the Uniting Church had to be made up of at least 33%
women.
In 2002, the Uniting Church in Australia celebrated its 25th Anniversary. The NSW Uniting Church magazine
Insights has summarised some of this uniquely Australian denominations’ strengths and weaknesses as follows:
Strengths

Nationwide

Young (as an institution)

Accepting of diversity and difference

Takes social justice and community service seriously

Has contact with large numbers of people outside the church

Has representative government

Provides significant leadership ecumenically and internationally

Its Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress is responsible for the church’s ministry with
indigenous Australians

Has cultural diversity – worship in ninety different language groups.
Weaknesses

Lacking variety in times and styles of local and regional worship

Diversity brings tension and conflict

Lack of leadership formation

An ageing church population, ageing more rapidly than society in general

Reduced resources are being put into Christian education

Church Life Survey shows Uniting Church people do not share their faith with others as much as most
other denominations.
Test Yourself
1. In what year did the Uniting Church form?
2.
Name the three denominations that formed the Uniting Church
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
3. Which of the three denominations that United also offered members the choice of remaining in a continuing
denomination of that name?
New Age Religions
Historian Hilary Carey feels that the proliferation of alternative ways of believing, sometimes called the New Age,
began with the disillusionment of the 1960’s. In the 1970’s, significant numbers of Australians sought religious
identification with groups as diverse as the Hare Krishnas and Orange People or opted for para-religious activity
such as yoga and transcendental meditation. The counterculture movement of the 1960’s was symbolised by
flowers, long hair, flowing clothes and a return-to-earth philosophy.
In the 1970’s, some New Age groups such as the Ananda Marga, the Moonies, the Orange People, the Children of
God or the Scientologists had an undeserved notoriety. Over time, however, alternative spiritualities, (sometimes
called ‘Post-Christian’ spiritualities and sometimes seen as an accompaniment to Christianity) became more
accepted in mainstream society. Some groups embraced a grand narrative which saw personal enlightenment and
the potential for world peace to lie in the re-awakening of primal, usually female, energies.
New Age groups tend to stress universal consciousness, concern for ecology and feminism. They have no holy
text, central organisation, formal clergy or creed but are a network of believers who share similar beliefs or
practices. One spokesperson is Louise L. Hay who believes religions divide rather than unite people and that they
deal in guilt and making people wrong if they don’t conform.
The Age of Aquarius is an astrologically-based time period of 2,160 years. It is uncertain exactly when it starts but
it comes after the Piscean Age, the age of patriarchal religious control and the subversion of the individual to the
power of organised religion. The Age of Pisces was about the sacrifice of the individual for the good of the
collective as exemplified by Jesus Christ. The Age of Aquarius is concerned with the common humanity of people.
It is about the understanding of the human role in ecology and ecological responsibility.
New Age Beliefs:

monism: everything comes from a single source of divine energy, the Universe or Universal love

pantheism: God is to be found within the self and throughout the entire universe

reincarnation: after death, we are reborn and live another life as a human

karma: the good and bad deeds that we do add or subtract from our accumulated record

aura: an energy field radiated by the human body that is useful for diagnosis of an individual’s state of
being
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
personal transformation: through a profoundly intense mystical experience

ecological responsibility: Mother Earth

Universal religion: there are many paths to the summit, all paths eventually reaching the top

As the Age of Aquarius unfolds, a new world or utopia will develop with an end to wars, disease, hunger,
pollution and poverty. Gender, racial, religious and other forms of discrimination will cease.
New Age Practices:

Channelling: making contact with spiritually evolved beings who have died.

Crystals: believed to posses healing energy

Meditating: releasing oneself from conscious thinking, often aided by repetitive chanting of a mantra or
focusing on an object

Music: gentle, melodic and inspirational

Divination: foretelling the future through various means such as tarot cards

Astrology: the belief that the orientation of the sun, moon and planets at the time of one’s birth, and the
location of that birth represents the individual’s future and personality

Holistic health: attempts to cure disorders in mind, body and spirit and to promote wholeness and balance
in the individual e.g. acupuncture, homeopathy, iridology, massage, reflexology

Human potential movement: to help individuals advance spiritually e.g. Primal Scream Therapy,
Transcendental Meditation and Yoga
Test yourself
1. Explain how New Age Religions moved from being considered countercultural to being accepted in
mainstream Australian society.
2. List four practices or beliefs in traditional religious traditions that New Age religions do not have.
3. Outline six New Age beliefs.
4. Name and describe six New Age practices.
<end test yourself>
Conversion and denominational switching
Evangelicals
“Evangelicalism has been the commonest form of Protestantism in Australian history.” Stuart Piggin, Evangelical
Christianity in Australia. Spirit, Word and World, Oxford University Press, 1996, p. vii.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
“Evangelicalism is the religious success story of the Australian colonies.” Hilary Carey: Believing in Australia. A
Cultural History of Religions. Allen and Unwin, 1996, p. 10.
One historian, J. Bebbington, has said “There are four qualities that have been the special marks of evangelical
religion:

conversionism, the belief that lives need to changed;

activism, the expression of the gospel in effort;

Biblicism, a particular regard for the Bible; and

crucicentrism, a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.”
Conversion
One of Australia’s best known converts is Arthur Stace, the man who wrote Eternity on the footpaths of Sydney for
37 years. Arthur Stace was born in Balmain in 1884. Both of his parents and his four siblings were alcoholics. His
two sisters were brothel operators. By the time he was 15, Stace was in jail for the first time. He was partially
blinded in France in World War I and became an alcoholic himself. When 46, Stace attended a meeting for men at
St Barnabas’ Broadway. He also heard an evangelical preacher, Revd John Ridley at Burton Street Baptist Church
in Darlinghurst. Ridley reminded his audience about eternity. Stace prayed and found that he was subsequently
able to give up drinking. He gained self-respect, respect from others and steady employment. He felt a powerful call
from God to write Eternity in chalk on Sydney footpaths for the next 37 years. A reminder of his life’s work has been
set into the cobblestone alongside St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney. It was also spelt out in fireworks on the
Sydney Harbour Bridge on New Year’s Eve, 2000 and received world-wide media attention.
<Insert Fig. 2.3.5a>
Caption: Convert Arthur Stace wrote Eternity on Sydney footpaths for nearly 40 years.
<End Fig. 2.3.5a>
Crusades
Crusades have had a huge impact on Protestant churches in Australia and to a lesser extent on Catholic churches.
In their book, The Methodists A History of Methodism in New South Wales, (Allen and Unwin, St. Leonards, 1993,
p. 211) Don Wright and Eric Clancy describe one such crusade, Alan Walker’s six-month Mission to the Nation
held in 1953.
“One of the most successful aspects of the mission was the radio program, “Drama with a Challenge”. Centred
around some significant issue of the day and with the script written by a professional writer, these programs were
broadcast by over sixty stations and heard by an estimated one million people weekly. The heavy mail in response
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
to this program suggested that many people were being stirred by the dramas. Some local churches formed
listening groups and then discussed the issues raised over a cup of tea. This method of presenting the Gospel was
more costly than anything the church had ever done before, and that cost had to be met by commercial and other
sponsorships. Radio evangelism continued in 1954 with a program entitled “Life has a Purpose” and in 1955 a new
drama series was produced which was claimed to be the most successful of all. Certainly several remarkable
conversions were recorded and, on at least two occasions, interest groups were attacked with such vigour on a
program that they protested to the Macquarie Network. The Network was on the verge of cancelling the contract
until the Methodists agreed that equal time be granted for reply to any group which felt itself aggrieved by one of
the programs. This final series drew between 2000 and 3000 letters over its time on air.”
At Sydney University, Alan Walker’s used a “whole gospel” approach in the Newness Youth movement. This
gained support from the Roman Catholic chaplain and the Arts Society. There was nothing surprising about the
Catholic support, since Cardinal Gilroy had urged it and it had been given most generously in many other places as
well.
Diversity within Anglicanism
Anglicans claim to sit on a “3-legged stool’ of Scripture, Tradition and Reason. The weight given to each leg can be
reflected in the type of Anglicanism; evangelicals claim to give more weight to scripture, Anglo-Catholics to give
more weight to tradition and Liberals to give more weight to reason. In reality, all individuals approach any decision
with a combination of factors at work. Recognition of a variety of influences, including contradictory ones, is called,
loosely, postmodernism. Broad church Anglicans would like to think they give equal weight to all three “legs”.
Sydney Diocese is regarded by many Anglicans as having become more hard line in its evangelicalism in the last
20 years. So whilst ecumenism between many parts of the Australian church is increasing, divisions between
various Anglican dioceses seems to be broadening.
Evangelicalism is not fundamentalism or Pentecostalism although there are fundamentalists and
pentecostalists/ charismatics who are comfortable with being described as evangelicals. Evangelicals are found in
most denominations, especially Protestant ones, and are a strand or stream of Christianity rather than a variant.
Key terms
Fundamentalists - a strand of Christianity which believes that the Bible can be literally applied to all life situations
because it has no errors.
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Pentecostals - people who belong to one of several specific Christian denominations that especially celebrate the
gifts of the Holy Spirit
Charismatics - people who prefer to worship in a style that emphasises the Holy Spirit and who attend a Catholic
or Protestant parish that is charismatic in style
In 1959 the crusade in Australia of popular US evangelist Billy Graham was another chapter in an almost centuryold tradition of professional Protestant revivalism. This and later Crusades by Billy Graham, Luis Palau and others
have been a focal point for enthusiastic work by evangelical churches. Denominational switching is when a
person changes from one denomination, often the denomination of their family of origin, to another denomination
about which they are more enthusiastic or in which they feel more comfortable. As a result of revivals, large-scale
missions and personal efforts by evangelicals, many people “convert” from being nominal followers of one
denomination to being enthusiastic followers of an evangelical denomination.
Pentecostalism and charismatic movement
The term “Pentecostal” is loosely used to describe a specific denominations in Christianity which stress the gifts of
the Holy Spirit. Pentecostal churches emphasise that special abilities given to believers include

preaching and teaching

speaking in tongues

special powers needed for witness and service

sanctification (to become good, holy and saintly)

healing

the ability to live in expectation of the imminent return of Christ

prophesying, and the interpretation of prophecy.
Pentecostal services also reflect:

enthusiasm

faith healing

extemporary prayer (that is, without prepared notes)

exuberant body language such as the raising of arms whilst singing and praying

the singing of the same hymn or chorus several times over

forceful and emotional preaching.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
Pentecostalism was in the 1980’s the fastest growing Christian denomination in Australia. Much of the growth is
from denominational switching. That is, people grow up in or are nominal members of another Christian
denomination but find that denomination boring or irrelevant. They choose to start attending a charismatic or
Pentecostal service because of the exuberance, energy and entertainment such services have.
Greater celebration of the gifts of the Holy Spirit has also been urged by Christians in other denominations, and
such Christians are called charismatics. Charismatics often remain in their own denominations but find a particular
suburb or service where the worship is more charismatic in style. By the 1970’s, the term charismatic was being
used widely to refer to all people (regardless of denomination) who emphasised the Holy Spirit’s power in their
lives. In the 2001 census, Pentecostals accounted for 0.66% of the religious affiliation nominated by Australians.
Many denominations have far fewer people attending church on Sunday or Saturday than are nominated on the
census. Pentecostals, on the other hand, have higher figures. It is assumed that this is because many people go to
Pentecostal services but nominated their family’s traditional denomination on the census form. Pentecostal
demographics are extraordinary. There are many young people. The largest Pentecostal denominations in
Australia are the Assemblies of God, the Christian Outreach Centres and the Revival Centres and Crusades.
Test Yourself
1. List four characteristics of evangelicals.
2. Explain how the words Pentecostal and charismatic should be used differently.
3. Define ‘denominational switching’ and give one reason why it might happen.
4. State three unusual things about Pentecostals in reference to (1) census information compared with church
attendances (2) worship style and (3) demographics
Moving out of Religion
No Religion and Religion not stated for census years 1911-2001
Census
1911
1921
1933
1947
1954
1961
1966
1971
1976
1981
1986
1991
1996
2001
No
0.4
0.5
0.2
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.8
6.7
8.3
10.8
12.7
12.9
16.5
15.4
2.9
1.9
12.9
11.1
9.7
10.7
10.3
6.3
12.2
11.4
12.3
10.5
8.7
12.6
Religion
Not
stated
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
It was not until 1933 that the census form clearly stated that the religion question was optional. 12.8% chose not to
answer it in 1933. That number remained fairly constant until in 1971 a significant number of people declared
themselves to have no religion. Do not confuse “no religion” with “religion not stated” as some people feel strongly
that it is not the government’s business to know about people’s private religion but that is different from not having
one. Since 1991, options in the ‘no religion’ categories have included agnostic, atheist, humanist and rationalist.
Zina O’Leary in a Christian Research Association Research Paper No. 4 in 1999, analysed earlier National Social
Science Surveys. For every one Australian adult who had begun to identify with a Christian denomination following
previously indicating “no religion”, 35 people had moved in the opposite direction.
Reasons for growth of “no religion”:

It is no longer common to accept one’s inherited religious identification without question.

There is rejection of any one particular construction or form of religion.

Disenchantment, which Christian philosopher Durkheim has described as an “exasperated and irritated
weariness”.

Reacting against something – in one survey, over 85% of people leaving their faith had a particular
catalyst: the loss of a child, the death of a friend, an alcoholic parent, moving from home, the condition of
the world or the condition of themselves.

Perceived hypocrisy in the church including child abuse, sexism and patriarchy.

The influence of ‘significant others’ who held atheistic views.

Exposure to alternatives at university.

‘No religion’ being socially more acceptable.

Materialism.
Source: Zina O’Leary, Christian Research Association.
Key terms
Apostate – one who has totally abandoned a formerly held position of religious belief
Agnostic - one who believes that God is unknown and unknowable
Rationalist - one who accepts reason as the supreme authority in matters of belief or conduct
According to the 2001 census, Australians gave the following religious identification for themselves:
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
Caption: Religious identification on Australian 2001 census
Christianity
Buddhism
Hinduism
Islam
Judaism
Australian
Aboriginal
Traditional
Religions
Other
Religious
Groups
No religion
Not stated
Total
12,764,342
357,813
95,473
281,578
83,993
67.28%
1.89%
0.50%
1.48%
0.44%
5,224
0.03%
87,145
2,905,993
2,391,089
18,972,650
0.46%
15.32%
12.60%
100.00%
Highlights of the 2001 ABS census results give a snap-shot of the changing shape of today's churches:

The proportion of Catholics in Australia has stayed virtually the same at 27%.

The Uniting Church declined from 7.52% to 6.65% losing 86,000.

Pentecostals have declined from 0.99% to 0.66%, although this may reflect a change in coding within the
ABS.

There are more Muslims (1.5%) than Lutherans (1.33%).

There are more Buddhists (1.9%) than Baptists (1.7%).

There are more Hindus (0.51%) than Salvation Army.

There are about the same number of Jehovah's Witnesses as Jews and about the same number of
Mormons as Seventh Day Adventists.

Atheism also grew, rising from 7,469 in 1996 to 24,464 in 2001 (a growth rate of 228%).

Paganism has once again grown vigorously from 1996 to 2001.

Wicca/Witchcraft grew from 1,849 to 8,755 (a growth of 374%); Paganism from 4,353 to 10,632 (a growth
rate of 144%); and spiritualism from 8,141 to 9,279. The number of Australians who claim a link to a `newage' faith or `pagan' group is also on the rise, Bouma said, and proving attractive to Australian women.

"If the 'new age' cluster of religious groups is added together we get a total of over 40,000 or 0.22% of
Australians," Gary Bouma said. "This reflects the post-modern sentiment, 'I believe but do not belong'.

"These religions are also less hierarchical and patriarchal making them more appealing to women," he
said. "They are very disproportionately female. Once again there has been an increase in religious diversity
in Australia. For the first time it now takes 3 religious groups to make up 50% of the population."

"The proportion of Australians identifying with a form of Christianity has declined from 74% in 1991 to
70.55% in 1996 to 68.0 % in 2001," he said. "This resonates with the understanding that a secular post-
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
modern society is not irreligious, but is one where the religious and spiritual is less under the control of
religious organisations."
Market Place, June 2002
The appeal of spirituality that is less structured, less formal and less rigorous

About five million Australians will attend church services on Easter Friday or Easter Sunday but more than
twelve and three quarter million Australians indicated on the last census that they were Christian.

40% of Australians believe in the Resurrection and divinity of Jesus.

One of the most vibrant movements in the Sydney Catholic community is a discussion gathering called
Spirituality in the Pub.

There is renewed interest in Celtic spirituality.
Test Yourself
1. Summarise the statistics for No Religion and Religion not stated in table 2.3.6a
2. Organise 10 reasons given for “No Religion” in order from what you consider to be the most common reason to
the least common reason.
3. Has the decline in the percentage of Australians who are Anglican continued at a steady rate?
4. Use the “Snapshot from the 2001 census” to evaluate the statement that “whilst religion in Australia is declining,
spirituality is not.”
<C>2.3.7 Impact of Religion on Media
There has been a decline in the reporting of religion in secular newspapers this century (in 19th Century sermons
were reported in full in newspaper) but controversial issues are still given coverage. When the Movement for the
Ordination of Women invited a woman bishop from New Zealand, the Sydney Anglican Diocesan newspaper tried
to ignore the visit. The Sydney Morning Herald on the other hand gave the debate about the ordination of Anglican
women frequent, front-page coverage. Christians in groups such as the Ordination for Catholic Women are also
grateful for the airing of their viewpoint in the secular media because the Catholic media is not as sympathetic.
Festive times such as the beginning or end of Ramadam may be reported. It is compulsory to have 3% of television
and radio broadcast time given to religious programs but there is no legislation of time, so imported American
religious programs can be on television at 3 am. There are liturgies on radio in many languages, for example, the
broadcast of Greek Orthodox services and Islamic prayer sessions on SBS radio.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Church publications and those of other religious traditions still have circulations of thousands and often contain
vigorous debate.
Use of media by religious groups
Christianity uses electronic and print media both to communicate to members and to reach out to people outside
the church. E-mail has been described as a medium “conducive to human connectedness”. During the crisis in
East Timor, Christians there used e-mail to increase awareness of the tragedy amongst Christians back in
Australia. E-mail was used to promote prayer, to sustain support and to lobby for assistance. Individual Christians
will use e-mail to inform their Christian community of developments when family members experience illness or are
in other situations that require help.
Increasingly, a local congregation or parish will e-mail the parish pewslip or newsletter to members before the
Sunday service. In this way, members can prepare for worship by doing the Bible readings. Through reading this
electronically communicated newsletter and the notes about members needing pastoral care, there can be a
stimulus to prayer and other care.
Congregational websites are one of the fastest growing areas in “cyberspace”. The Vatican website is one of the
most frequently visited sites in the world. In the worldwide web, sites such as Religion Online are a great source of
news and information. Religious newspapers, journals and magazines publish columns such as the “Top ten
Christian websites” and web reviews. Some parishes have rewritten parts of the Bible to appeal to mobile phone
users, putting the ancient words into the witty, playful and brief language of SMS text messages. The “10
com&ments” include ‘I’m No. 1. No pix, plz’ and ‘Day7holy.’
CD ROMs are a very efficient means of communicating huge amounts of information to a mass audience. The
Christian Research Association recently published a Multi-media CD on Australia’s Religious Communities. Peter
Horsfield, a Uniting Church minister in Melbourne has produced a CD on Religion and Media called The Mediated
Spirit. The Anglican Church now has A Prayer Book for Australia on CD ROM. The Catholic Church in Tasmania
has led the world in innovative development of web technology so that liturgical resources can be customised for
local parish use.
Christianity also uses electronic and print media to propagate a variety of Christian view points on issues. This can
be by individual Christians joining in on talkback radio and through denominational newspapers such as the
national monthly Anglican newspaper Market Place. Christian commentators are used as sources of information for
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
coverage of religious issues on the ABC and on commercial television. There are also some programs dedicated to
spiritual issues such as ‘The Spirit of Things’, ‘Encounter” and ‘Compass’.
Christians also use dedicated television shows, magazines and even letterbox drops of brochures to reach out to
members outside the Christian community. In this way they make contact, encourage the development of a
Christian world view and on occasions aim for and achieve religious conversions.
<Insert Test Yourself
Test Yourself
1. List three ways in which secular media cover religious issues.
2. List five ways in which religious groups use electronic media.
<end test yourself>
<C> 2.3.8 Non Religion
<d>Comparison of secular humanism and Christianity
Students of SOR2 are expected to understand the nature of the beliefs of some of those who do not embrace a
religious perspective on life. An increasingly popular perspective is humanism.
<Insert table 2.3.8 Differences and similarities between secular humanism and Christianity
Differences:
Secular Humanism
Christianity
The beliefs about the origins of the
Creator God is improbable (e.g.
There is a creator God, revealed in
universe:
Richard Dawkins promotes this
biblical book of Genesis, although
view).
Christians vary in how the Genesis
story is interpreted today.
Life after death
There is none.
After death there is final judgement
and heaven or hell although
Christians may differ between
themselves as to the time and place
of final judgement.
Religion
Humanists wish to promote the
secular cause and warn the public to
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
beware of the politicised religious
right. Secular Humanists encourage
people to write “no religion” in the
census if that is a person’s honest
position.
Rites of passage
They provide listings for Naming,
Christians can also be intolerant of
Marriage and Funeral celebrants.
people whose belief systems are
Secular Humanists can be quite
different to theirs. Christians differ in
aggressive in promoting civil
that when observing the rhythms of
celebrations. The NSW website
life in rites of passage, Christians
asks, “Do you want an appropriate
will have religious elements such as
celebration without meaningless
prayers and hymns.
religious gobbledegook”?
Similarities
The value of a human person
Humans highly valued - the fullest
Humans highly valued. Some
use of science is for human welfare.
Christians, however, believe that
human choice should be limited by
awareness of God’s sovereignty.
Human responsibility.
People should have responsibility
People should have responsibility
and choice.
and choice. This is more so for
Christians who have a responsibilitybased approach to ethics than for
those who have a rules-based
approach to ethics. (See Section
4.3.1)
Human choice
The Humanist Society of Australia
Many Christians believe that to allow
instituted the Voluntary Euthanasia
voluntary suicide through euthanasia
Society.
is to exceed human responsibilities.
Material accumulation and
Material accumulation and
possessions should not be at the
possessions should not be at the
expense of human rights or life
expense of human rights or life
quality.
quality.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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Problem solving
The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
A rational approach to human
Christians, whilst not wishing to be
problems
irrational, believe there is a faith
dimension to solving human
problems.
Environmental concerns
Work for ecological sustainability.
Work for ecological sustainability
The Secular Humanist website lists
although historically, many capitalist
an “environment” contact person
countries have been nominally
and they work for quality of human
Christian with a poor environmental
life.
record. The stewardship aspect of
the Genesis story needs to be
emphasised against the dominance
aspect.
Social responsibility
Have the motto “Ethics in Action”.
Many Christians are also involved in
Secular Humanists are active in
the social action programs listed for
Workers Education Association, the
humanists. Some variants within
Peace Movement, the Council for
Christianity, however, such as the
Civil Liberties, Penal Reform
Catholic, oppose abortion law reform
Association, the Abortion Law
and euthanasia. Other Christian
Repeal Association and they support
denominations, such as the Uniting
Amnesty International.
Church, believe that these areas are
not always black and white and
some Uniting Church people would
describe themselves as Christian
humanists.
Community involvement and
Are active in outreach and
Whilst Christians share that desire
outreach
promoting a non-religious approach
for honesty, they do not promote a
to life. Secular Humanists promote
non-religious approach to life.
their meetings for increased political
power and to encourage meetings
between like-minded people.
The rhythms of life
Aware of the human need for the
In some Christian variants, rites of
rites of passage. Humanists claim
passage must take place in a church
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
that Australia’s civil marriage
building.
celebrants system is the result of
their lobbying efforts in the late 60’s
to early ‘70’s.
<end Fig. 2.3 8
Common elements in religious expression and world views
The key feature that has led to developments in co-operation and understanding within and between religious
people and groups in Australia has been recognition that they all share a religious world view.
Inter-faith dialogue
This is co-operation between people of different religious traditions. Australian examples include:

The service at St Mary's Cathedral remembering the suffering of people in war held on the eve of Anzac
Day 2001. Buddhist monks and Christian ministers took part.

The Centenary of Federation celebrations in Melbourne when all the religious traditions in Australia
performed in a concert.

The Muslim-Christian Council who together held prayers in Martin Place for peace in Ambon, Indonesia.

The Uniting Church National Assembly Committee on Relations with Other Faiths.

The Victorian Jewish-Christian Dialogue Committee.

The Studies of Religion course when e.g. a Jewish rabbi or a Buddhist nun will address Muslim and
Christian teachers about issues.

Students of two different faiths working together on Studies of Religion.

The Multi-Faith Religious Services Centre that ran very successfully at the Sydney Olympics.

The interfaith forum called Living in Harmony that was a joint project of the Uniting Church’s Frontier
Services and the town of Port Hedland in Western Australia. Two Tibetan monks created a mandala
(intricate sand painting), Thai women were shown how to skin a kangaroo tail by Aboriginal women, and a
cookbook called Crocodile, Curry or Capsicum was produced.

The $2 million Griffith University Multi-faith centre – to which leaders of the Christian, Buddhist, Baha’i,
Hindu, Jewish and Muslim communities and elders of the indigenous community lent their support

The 1988 opening of the new Parliament House in Canberra had genuinely multi-faith representation.

A Multi-religious prayer vigil held in Strathfield Plaza on Saturday night, 15th September, 2000 organised
by the then mayor of Strathfield, Virginia Judge following a terrorist attack on the USA. A Bosnian Muslim
man said, "We know what terrorism is like." Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Tamil Catholics, Anglo Catholics,
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
Anglicans, Korean Christians, Pentecostals as well as Fire Brigade volunteers and SES volunteers all took
part. People from many other religious groups were also present.
key terms
inter-faith dialogue - representatives from different religious traditions meet or work on a common task with the
aim of greater understanding and harmony
hierarchical - a system where people of higher rank have greater power or status than those of lower rank
secular humanism - a system of thought and action in which human concerns are of the highest priority; spiritual
or religious values are of minimal or no importance
patriarchal - a form of church government where authority is given to males, or where decision making is based on
power structures rather than consensus.
Celtic - a group of Indo-European languages with Irish, Scottish, Gaelic and Welsh origins. The associated Celtic
spirituality has a greater acceptance of feminine forces, mysticism and the earth
Ecumenism
Ecumenism is best known as co-operation between Christian denominations and comes at several levels as shown
in Fig. 2.4.2.
Caption: Levels at which ecumenism works
Non-denominational (ignores differences)

Inter-denominational (working together on common goals e.g. reconciliation)

Ecumenism which sees difference as a source of enrichment (not division)

Ecumenism which seeks to overcome difference with an ultimate aim of unity
Non-denominational is the ’lowest common denominator’ approach and ignores differences between
denominations. Examples are in youth organisations (e.g. Girls Brigade, Young Men’s Christian Association) and
Christian Education (National Christian Endeavour Movement and the Australian College of Theology (ACT).
The Australian College of Theology began in 1891 as an Australia-wide co-operative effort between Anglicans in
different states. Energies could be conserved by pooling resources in the preparation of post-matriculation courses,
resources and exams at every Anglican college. By the 1970s it had government accreditation through assessment
by the NSW Higher Education Board and was connected with universities in Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
Brisbane as well as Sydney. It was offering postgraduate and post-doctoral courses as well, and had become nondenominational, with more non-Anglican than Anglican Bible colleges and students participating. It is an example of
a consortium. Sydney Anglican theological college, Moore College, withdrew from the ACT in 2002.
Inter-denominational work has a collaborative approach where there is some consultation over periodic events
or annual arrangements. Ecumenism can be seen on a personal level when Christians from different
denominations start talking. Ecumenism on a congregational level occurs when local churches have things such as:

Annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity or Reconciliation;

pulpit exchanges;

combined social action e.g. refugee resettlement;

combined youth support e.g. seminars or presentations in High Schools, sharing Special Religious
Education in local primary schools;

Fundraising e.g. Christmas Bowl Appeal, Force TEN; and

working at such things as Reconciliation events.
These activities may be local initiatives, coming ‘from below’ and simply requiring co-ordination at the state or
national level.
Other projects come ‘from above’ and need to be initiated and organised from a person or group in a state or
national position. Examples of the latter are:

the National Council of RCSM (Royal School of Church Music) Australia and the Ecumenical Church Music
Committee who combine to conduct week-long summer school for church musicians from all the major
Christian denominations with the aim to promote the study, worthy practice and improvement of music in
Christian worship in Australia.

The Sydney College of Divinity (SCD) is accredited to offer first and higher degrees in theology. It also
co-operates with state universities at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels.

The first edition of the Australian Hymn Book which sold over 1 million copies after it was launched in 1977.
A 10-year project with representatives of the Anglican, Roman Catholic, Uniting, Church of Christ and
Lutheran churches and publishers Harper Collins led to a second edition 20 years after that.

In 2001, for the first time in Australia, congregations from Catholic and Protestant churches united in the
National Church Life Survey, held every five years. Over 500,000 parishioners from over 20 denominations
took part. Previously, Catholics had conducted their own parallel survey.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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
The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
Catholic and Uniting Church Agreement on Interchurch Marriages – an Australian statement which sees
marriage between Catholic and Uniting Church spouses as an ecumenical gift to the churches and
provides for the pastoral care of these marriages.

ARCIC – the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission on doctrine.

National Ecumenical Aged Care Chaplains’ Conferences.
Key Terms
consortia – when institutions combine financial or other resources for greater efficiency and to offer a common
program
ecumenism - a movement promoting, at best, Christian unity and as a minimum, Christian co-operation
non-denominational- when individuals participate without reference to their own denomination
inter-denominational - when individuals take part in an ecumenical event as representatives of their own
denomination
A deeper ecumenism, rather than ignoring differences, demands that churches know their own tradition and
understand and appreciate the differences in other denominations, working with difference as a source of
enrichment, not division. Local ecumenism can be seen as a partnership between Christians seeking to witness
together to their common faith in God and to act together in matters of common interest in their communities. At a
fourth and deepest level, all involved are committed to a future of growing together, of working through differences,
of bearing one another’s burden. They have the conviction that the Church is God’s and God’s Church is in its
essential nature, one. It comes from a conviction that unity, as distinct from uniformity, is essential to the Church’s
renewal.
Benefits of ecumenism:

promotes unity for which Christians believe Christ prayed

gives stronger witness to the community

builds trust

gives greater efficiency

reduces duplication
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present

allows for pooling of resources

benefits family unity for interchurch marriages

is the only way in which small communities can support and maintain ordained Ministry
Ecumenism benefits family unity in interchurch marriages. An Anglican groom and Catholic bride are married in an
Anglican church at Warren NSW. The Catholic priest conducted the sacrament: the Anglican priest, Phoebe
McFarlin, blessed the rings and was part of the blessing of the nuptials.
Ecumenism also works at the state level with, for example, the NSW Ecumenical Council (nswec.org.au) and at the
national Level with the National Council of Churches Australia (to which the Catholic Church belongs and makes a
very significant contribution) and the World Council of Churches (of which the Catholic Church is not a member).
“In the ecumenical movement the churches walk together in mutual understanding, theological convergence,
common suffering and common prayer, shared witness and service, and they draw close to one another.”
(World Council of Churches Canberra Assembly Statement, 1991)
“It is absolutely clear that ecumenism, the movement promoting Christian Unity, is not some sort of ‘appendix’
which is added to the Church’s traditional activity. Rather, ecumenism is an organic part of her life and work, and
consequently must pervade all that she is and does; it must be like a fruit borne by a healthy and flourishing tree
which grows to its full stature.”
(Pope John Paul II, quoted in Section 5 of Local Ecumenism Information Kit, NSW Ecumenical Council, October
2000)
Joint Initiatives
Many Australians nominate Christianity on the National Census form as their religious tradition but do not attend
church services on Sunday. In times of crisis or celebration, however, they often look to the churches to organise
and carry out rituals with which the public can identify.

A 1999 survey by Edith Cowan University found that 64% of church attenders and 52% of non-attenders
felt that churches should organise televised memorial services at times of national and world tragedy. More
than one third of those surveyed felt a “great sense” of loss after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales,
and mong them, 87% said the televised service was ‘helpful’ or ‘very helpful’ to them.

A wedding of two Muslim refugees while at the ‘Safe Haven” camp at Singleton was conducted by a central
coast Imam, but was arranged with help from Samaritans staff and the NSW Ecumenical Council.
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
Evangelical churches worked jointly on conversion of visitors and athletes to the Sydney 2000 Olympics
with the production of thousands of copies of a booklet “More than Gold” and a tent which was voluntarily
staffed throughout the Games.
Test Yourself
1. Explain the difference between inter-faith dialogue and ecumenism.
2. Describe one event involving inter-faith dialogue.
3. Explain the four levels at which ecumenism can work and give one example of each.
4. The various colleges of Divinity (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Adelaide) are ecumenical. The Australian
College of Theology has become non-denominational. What is the distinction?
<end test yourself>
Religion in Australia 1901 to Present HSC style question and suggested answer
(a) Demonstrate ways in which the Australian cultural environment has influenced the development of Christianity
in Australia since 1901. (5 Marks)
(b) Evaluate the role of at least TWO religious traditions in wars. (5 Marks)
Spend about 9 minutes on each part (a) and (b) of this question. The suggested structure presented here serves
as a guide to answering the HSC-style question so as to maximise marks.
(a)
Demonstrate ways in which the Australian cultural environment has influenced the development of
Christianity in Australia since 1901. (5 Marks).
Suggested answer
To demonstrate requires that you show by example. To achieve the higher performance bands, you will need to
show comprehensive understanding by including a range of denominations in your answer. See Section 2.1.3.
Factors especially significant in shaping Australian Christianity since 1901 are

its European beginnings as a British colony. Lutherans are the largest Protestant denomination in the
world but in Australia Lutherans are a minority church. Three percent of Christians in the world are
Anglicans but in Australia in 2002 Anglicans make up 30% of the Christian population. Anglican leaders
were almost universally British-born and educated. Legal separation of the Australian Church of England
from the parent English church did not occur till 1962 and the Church of England did not change its name
to Anglican until 1983.

There has never been an established church - financial contributions are voluntary, no endowed
churches, church donations are not tax-deductible, the government does not pay for clergy salaries
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
migration has always being very influential and denominations have never been monocultural:
Lutherans recruited from Germany; Catholics from Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Asia and Africa as well
as England and Ireland. Within the same suburb or in neighbouring suburbs in Australia there might be
Ukrainian, Russian, Greek and Serbian Orthodox churches, unheard of in Europe

distance from the centres of sectarian hostility in Europe and the UK meant ecumenism was greater
- little violent opposition, local people banded together to build worship and education centres

extremely small population base being especially in relation to the geographical size, and being highly
urbanised meant there was greater egalitarianism; Australian Catholics were more likely to be critical of
capitalism, there was lay participation in church government earlier here than in the United
Kingdom, opportunities for political and professional advancement were greater for Catholics than in most
parts of Britain.
(b) Evaluate the role of TWO religious traditions in wars. (5 Marks)
To evaluate requires that you make a judgement based on criteria or determine the value of. Religious traditions
means major world religions so to achieve in the higher performance bands your must look at the contribution of at
least one other religious tradition, in addition to Christianity.
Sample answer:
Both Christianity and Judaism have played a significant role in Australia’s responses to foreign wars since 1901.
In World War I, all churches felt similar responsibilities to soldiers:

encourage in right living;

convert before they went to meet the enemy

provide with chaplains

comfort when confronted by death

and to pray for them
For families they had to

deliver the bad news of the death of a soldier

offer consolation

hold special remembrance services to remember the dead
Lutherans had their schools closed down and Lutherans of German descent were interned. Methodists
successfully campaigned for shortened Hotel opening hours and Evangelicals enlisted in disproportionate
numbers.
Jewish responses included

a high number of enlistments
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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The Influence of Religion in Australian Society 1901 to Present
provision of commissioned officers and Chaplains

Voluntary work and donations on the home front
These roles were repeated in World War II

Despite growth of the peace movement and the Maitland Coalfields Manifesto (that: ‘Prayer for one side’s
victory is unchristian, but we do join in prayers for a just and enduring peace.”) the church, like the
community, did the things that were expected of it including:

Providing entertainment for the young men in camp

keeping in touch with soldiers who were away

honouring them if they were wounded / killed;

and welcoming them if/when they returned.
Jewish Responses to WW II included:

enlisting,

joining Sewing Bees and Red Cross activities

the provision of the Monash Recreation Hut in Hyde Park and the Martin Place Kiosk for Servicemen
The Vietnam War was a divisive war for Christianity and Judaism, just as it was for the whole Australian
community. The role of Christianity was important as members contributed to public debate about:

whether it was right for Australia to join in a war of prevention (the so-called domino theory),

conscription; and

whether conscientious objection should be allowed and was adequately provided for.
Jewish leaders and Catholic Bishops were most consistently in favour of Australia’s involvement in the war.
Methodist leaders were most consistently against.
Religious traditions played a significant role, both in their practical involvement and in their contributions to public
policy debates.
<end Chapter 2>
Notes by Patricia Hayward and Jon Noble, September 2002.
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