Law and Religion Down Under

Late last year, in a case named Bird v DP, the High Court of Australia overturned a trial court’s finding that the Ballarat Diocese of the Catholic Church should be held vicariously liable for the sexual abuse committed by one of its priests in 1971.  With me to discuss this important case is Associate Professor Neil Foster of Newcastle Law School, an academic who teaches and researches in the areas of torts, workplace health and safety, and law and religion. 

Learn more about Neil and his publications at his Newcastle Law School Staff Page and follow his writings on law and religion at his popular Law and Religion Australia blog.

The case of Bird v DP can be found online on the High Court website here.

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Our topic this episode is religiously-affiliated law schools and how a legal education in one differs than in a secular law school.  The United States has 65 religiously-affiliated law schools, Australia has two, and Canada—a country often compared to Australia in size and background—has none.  My guest is Professor Keith Thompson from the University of Notre Dame Australia, one of two religiously-affiliated law schools in Australia.

Learn more about Professor Keith Thompson at his University of Notre Dame Australia staff page.

How has the political discourse around religious freedom in Australia changed in recent years?  This episode’s guest is Dr Elenie Poulos, an academic from the Macquarie School of Social Sciences and the author of several recent papers on the topic.

Learn more about Dr Poulos’ work on her Macquarie University Staff Page.

Read the articles discussed in the podcast by following the links in Dr Poulos’ Publications & Media page.



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In 2021, the International Theological Commission of the Catholic Church released a major policy document titled "Religious Freedom for the Good of All".  This episode features my contribution to a blog series on the document hosted by the International Centre for Law and Religious Studies.

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Our topic for today is witchcraft and sorcery.  Even today, in some parts of the developing world, an accusation that a person is a witch can lead to assault, torture, and even murder.  This episode features an interview with Professor Miranda Forsyth from the School of Regulation and Global Governance at ANU.  Professor Forsyth is a chief investigator of a major multi-year project on how to best overcome sorcery accusations and related violence in Papua New Guinea.

Learn more about Professor Forsyth’s work on her ANU staff page.

The grant-funded project in PNG has its own dedicated website: Stop Sorcery Violence.

An important resource is the International Network against Accusations of Witchcraft and Associated Harmful Practices.

Theme Music: "Sunbeams in the Stained Glass" Oleksandr Viktorovych Lukyanenko, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Section 116 of the Australian Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion.  Yet, the High Court has always given the provision a very narrow interpretation.  Recently, some scholars have suggested a new test, "structured proportionality", should be applied in the context of freedom of religion.  In this episode, Guy Baldwin, a Lecturer in Law at the University of Manchester, discusses proportionality and its alternatives.

Learn more about Guy's work on his University of Manchester staff page.

Read Guy's recent article on proportionality and freedom of religion in the Australian Journal of Law and Religion.

Theme Music: "Sunbeams in the Stained Glass" Oleksandr Viktorovych Lukyanenko, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

One of the distinctive features of much recent law and religion scholarship in Australia is the conscious integration of theological concepts into legal analysis.  How does an explicitly religious worldview fit into a secular legal system?  With me today to talk theology and jurisprudence is Associate Professor Joshua Neoh from the ANU College of Law.

Learn more about Associate Professor Joshua Neoh’s work on his ANU staff page.  His book Law, Love and Freedom: From the Sacred to the Secular is published by Cambridge University Press.

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Should the "spiritual but not religious" or "Nones" (individuals who are not members of organised religious groups) be able to make freedom of religious claims?  In this special episode, I join a fascinating debate in the legal literature by presenting my views in a rejoinder to those of Professor Mark Movsesian.

Read Professor Movsesian's article "The New Thoreaus", follow the St John's Center for Law and Religion's blog, and listen to the excellent Legal Spirits podcast.

Read my paper "'A la carte' Spirituality and the Future of Freedom of Religion", get a briefer take in my contribution on the topic to The Conversation, or a longer treatment in my book Faith or Fraud: Fortune-telling, Spirituality, and the Law.

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In many jurisdictions in Australian, public schools are allowed or even required to offer students religious instruction classes.  In recent years, this practice has become more controversial.  With me to talk about religious instruction in the public schools is Dr Jennifer Bleazby, a Senior Lecturer at Monash University.

You can learn more about Dr Bleazby's work at her Monash University staff page.

Dr Bleazby's recent journal article 'Religious instruction in the post-truth world: A critique of Australia’s controversial religious instruction classes in public schools' can be found here.

Feedback and topic suggestions are always welcome at [email protected]

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The results of the recent census confirmed the expectations of those who study the demographics of religious identity in Australia: change is happening, and it's happening fast!  This episode features an interview with Professor Adam Possamai of Western Sydney University, author of a new book titled 'Religion and Change in Australia.'  We'll discuss the census results, whether the trends will continue, and how Australia fits into larger global religious demographics.

To learn more about Professor Possamai and his work, visit his WSU staff page.

Professor Possamai's book Religion and Change in Australia is available from the Routledge website.