RELIGIONS – AUSTRALIA

Census changes to dilute religion

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Original article by Rhiannon Down, Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 3 : 30-Apr-24

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Timothy Costelloe has expressed concern about plans by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to make changes to census questions regarding religion. Accusing the ABS of including a "new bias in favour of no religion", Costelloe says the changes will lead to an increased number of invalid responses. The changes are also opposed by Anglican Bishop of South Sydney Michael Stead, who suggest they will produce less accurate data; he said his concern is that this data is often used by those who want to "champion the fact that Australia is becoming more and more secular and less and less ­religious".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

COVID-19 pandemic leads to more Australians regularly attending their place of worship

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Oct-21

New data from Roy Morgan shows that Australians are more likely to regularly attend their place of worship now than immediately prior to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some 19.1% of Australians aged 14+ now agree that ‘I regularly go to church or my place of worship’, an increase of 2.8% points compared to the March quarter 2020 (16.3% of Australians) just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 19.1% of women and 19% of men have reported that they ‘regularly go to church or my place of worship’, although the increase has been larger for women during the pandemic (up 4.1% points) compared to a smaller increase for men (up 1.2% points). A look at the different generations shows that are Millennials driving the increase; 21.2% now report that they ‘regularly go to church or my place of worship’, up 5.8% points from pre-pandemic. Also increasing and above the national average is Generation Z, now at 19.8%, up 2.7% points during the pandemic. The only exception among the generations are the Pre-Boomers, those now aged over 75′; now 22.2% say they agree with the statement, down 2% points on pre-pandemic.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Religion bill will make it harder to sack people

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 30-Aug-19

Attorney-General Christian Porter released a draft of the federal government’s proposed Religious Discrimination Bill on 29 August. Porter says the legislation aims to protect people on the basis of their religion, but does not give them a "licence to discriminate against other people", or to engage in vilifying or harassing speech. Under the proposed legislation, a company with turnover of at least $50 million that sacks someone for expressing a religious view that breaches a condition of their employment will need to show that retaining the employee could cause it "unjustifiable financial hardship”.

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AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Parents urged to join fake church to bypass jab law

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Original article by Julia Medew
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 6 : 28-Jan-15

Legislation rolled out in New South Wales in 2013 and set to come into effect in Victoria in 2016 prevents enrolment in child care for those who lack crucial vaccinations. However, an exemption can be gained by conscientious objectors on religious grounds, and the Australian Vaccination Skeptics Network is now encouraging parents to join the so-called Church of Conscious Living in order to circumvent the ban. The organisation was only founded in 2006 and is neither registered as a church nor charity with the Australian Charities & Not-for-profits Commission

CORPORATES
CHURCH OF CONSCIOUS LIVING, CHURCH OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE, AUSTRALIAN CHARITIES AND NOT-FOR-PROFITS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN VACCINATION SKEPTICS NETWORK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA, STOP THE AVN