Religious and Belief Systems in Australia

Immigration has had the most dramatic effect on the current religious landscape of Australia, leading to an increase in some groups and the decline of others. The origins of the decline of the first doctrines that came to Australia can be traced back to the to the relaxation of the White Australia Policy. This in turn led to an increased population of Immigrants in Australia from countries other than Britain, Italy, Ireland and European countries in general.

The religious education system in Australian Catholic Schools has endured many significant changes since the Second Vatican Council.

In the period 1947-2006, the Australian population grew from about 7.6 million to about 20 million. During this time there was an overall decline in the percentage of people identifying with a religion (frost course notes, 2010).

The present religious landscape in Australia is one that has changed significantly from 1945 up until now. Christianity is still currently the most popular religious tradition in Australia, however has seen a steady decrease in numbers due peoples interests in other religions and a non religious focused society. Due to immigration Australia has seen significant increases in followers of Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Because of Australia’s consumeristic society, denominational switching has become more common, especially in the Protestant denomination. New Age religions have become increasingly popular recently due to peoples search for individual fulfilment, in the form of happiness, health and meaning in life. Secularism in Australia is now a belief that forefronts society due to scientific discovery and individualism.

Post WW2, under the growing mindset that Australia must ‘populate or perish’ in order to maintain and grow the nations security, workforce and economy, 3million migrants from Italy, Greece, and other European countries immigrated to Australia, in accordance with the ‘White Australia Policy”. Majority of these immigrants were adherents of either the Catholic or Orthodox Church, therefore whilst new religions were introduced, they did not have as much of a significant impact of the religious landscape as the immigrants post 1972 did.

What began as the leveling of hierarchies altered into several revivals of different religions. “Starting in the rural west in the beginning of the 1830's, cities became active centers of American Protestantism. ”(Foner) Protestantism became the leading church and conversions were quick.

Immigration has easily had the largest and most significant effect on Australia’s religious landscape and has managed to see Australia become a vast multi-cultural and religious community. Immigration has taken several years to make significant changes to the Australian religious landscape. After the early settlers arrived and began to set up churches and

The successor of Rev. Richard Johnson, Rev. Samuel Marsden caused upheavel with the other denominations of Christianity, mainly the Catholics, as he did not recognise them as ‘human’. The evident sectarianism can be expressed through the note of one convict who stated, “He prays for our souls on Sunday, and takes it out of our bodies during the rest of the week.” The development of Christianity in Australia pre 1945 has subsequently been tainted by the tensions and caused the oppression of many people in Australia.

When Christianity arrived in Australia by the colonisation of the Irish and British, it then became the most dominant religion of Australia. The arrival of the first fleet in 1788 and the era of ‘Modern Australia’ beginning in the same year saw matters of little religious education throughout some of the population, sectarianism between the Irish and the Catholics and little support for the outback of Australia. Saint Mary Mackillop and Bishop William Broughton were two individuals who helped shape Australia’s image of religion through Christianity pre-1945, impacting sectarianism, sectarianism and Outback Australia. Their life stories and efforts made to assist Australia’s growth and knowledge of Christianity connected the country to God in

The practises, beliefs and values of Christianity and Islam have an impact on Australia society; however, the media exploits the perceived tension between the two groups which has led to discrimination and violence. Over many years the way of which an individual lives their life has been shown to be affected by the religion of which they follow. This affects the way of life throughout the community surrounding these people, as well as having an impact on the social issues throughout this particular community. Christianity has a huge impact throughout Australia, this includes through schools, dress codes, the way of which people live in their day to day lives. Christianity has always been a highly popular religion throughout Australia as

PART 1 Christianity is currently the largest Australian religion according to the national survey. In 2011, the tally proved that 61.1% of Australians were listed as Christian. The occurrence of Christianity began with the arrival of the First Fleet of British convicts in 1788. This led to a great society and a religious community. If Christianity did not exist, the world would differ from life nowadays.

The Aborigines have a complex belief in creation, spirits and culture that gives a definite distinctiveness from any other religion in the world. Thousands of years ago, Australian Aboriginal people were living in accordance with their dreamtime beliefs- today, a majority of the Aboriginal community profess allegiance to Christianity,

The second type of switching is when young adults have a residential move and then later search for an appropriate church. In general, there is no indication of theological issues or moral teachings, and no suggestion of dissatisfaction with the previous denomination in this type of switching. Another form of switching is due to dissatisfaction with the teachings of the denomination. The new denomination was seen by young adults as better in doctrine, theology, or

Religion, as defined by the High Court of Australia, is ‘a complex of beliefs and practices which point to a set of values and an understanding of the meaning of existence’ (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005) and can be studied either substantively or functionally (Berger 1974:126). Substantive studies of religion fall predominantly in the realm of theology and are more concerned with defining religious beliefs; their historical accuracy; and the existence of supernatural entities (Holmes, Hughes & Julian 2007:425). Sociology however, concerns itself primarily with the relationship between religion and society, examining religion as a social construction (Van Krieken et al. 2010:350-1) and concerned only with the substance of

My great-grandparents, Joe Seymour and Bonnie Hudkins are my grandfather’s parents on my dad’s side, and they changed the denomination in which they believe several times. As a boy, Joe grew up attending the Episcopal church, but as a young man, he converted to the Lutheran church when he married my great-grandmother Bonnie who was born and raised a Lutheran. While my grandfather was young, my great-grandfather sent him without telling my great-grandmother to an Episcopal Boys Home to correct his misbehavior. However, my great-grandmother became upset that my grandfather took him to the boys’ home and there were other religious differences which led them to leave the Episcopal and Lutheran church altogether and try out the Church of Christ. Once they were connected with the Church of Christ, they accepted the doctrine that they were the true church of the New Testament.