Religion and Belief Systems in Australia post-1945

This topic is Section I of the SoR I exam: 10 multiple-choice questions and one 5-mark short answer (15 of 50 marks, about 25 minutes). It is the same content as in Studies of Religion II. It has two halves, and either can be the short answer.

• Contemporary Aboriginal spiritualities: the Dreaming and its link to kinship, ceremonial life and obligations to the land; the continuing effect of dispossession (separation from land and from kin, the Stolen Generations); the land rights movement (native title, Mabo, Wik).
• Religious expression in Australia, 1945 to the present: changing patterns of adherence shown in census data; the present religious landscape (Christianity, immigration, denominational switching, New Age religions, secularism); Christian ecumenism; interfaith dialogue; the relationship between Aboriginal spiritualities and religious traditions in Reconciliation.

A note on language: use the terms Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people use. Say Aboriginal spiritualities (plural, because there are hundreds of nations), Country for land in its full sense, and avoid calling the Dreaming 'myth' or 'legend'.

The Dreaming is the English word for Aboriginal understandings of how ancestral beings shaped the land, created life and set down law. Each nation has its own word, such as _Jukurrpa_ (Warlpiri) or _Tjukurpa_ (Anangu). Three ideas matter most:

• It is ongoing. The ancestral beings are believed to remain present in the land, so the Dreaming is not just 'long ago'. It is sometimes described as 'everywhen'.
• It is the source of law. The Dreaming tells people how to live: how to relate to each other, what to eat, how to care for Country.
• It is inseparable from land and identity. A person's identity comes from their Country, their kin and their Dreaming.

Kinship, ceremony and land

The syllabus asks how the Dreaming shapes three things, and the best answers show how they connect.

The link: kinship decides who is responsible for which stories, ceremonies and places, and carrying out those responsibilities keeps the Dreaming alive.

This section deals with painful history, and some readers, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, may have family experience of it.

Dispossession means Aboriginal peoples being separated from their land and from their kin. Because spirituality is tied to Country and passed on within kinship, dispossession is a spiritual wound as well as a material loss.

• Separation from the land stopped people performing ceremonies at sacred sites, caring for Country and teaching young people in place.
• Separation from kinship groups happened through missions, reserves and forced movement of people.
• The Stolen Generations: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were removed from their families under government policies, mainly from about 1910 to the 1970s. The _Bringing Them Home_ report (1997) estimated that between one in three and one in ten Indigenous children were removed in that period. Many were forbidden to speak their languages.

The continuing effect is the key phrase. Knowledge that should have passed from elders to children was interrupted, and many people live with intergenerational trauma and loss of identity. But Aboriginal spiritualities were not destroyed: people are reconnecting with Country and kin through Link-Up services, language revival, land rights and native title. The National Apology was delivered by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 13 February 2008.

Learn this sequence with dates; MCQs often test it.

Native title is recognised by the common law and comes from a group's continuing traditional laws and customs. Statutory land rights are granted by parliament. To win native title, a group must show a continuing connection to the land, which is hardest for the peoples who were most dispossessed. That is a common point to make in an analysis.

Why it matters spiritually: land rights are not only economic. Returned land allows people to live on Country, hold ceremonies and protect sacred sites, so the movement is an expression of Aboriginal spiritualities.

The census picture

The census religion question is optional (since 1933), and the latest results released as at 2026 are from the 2021 Census. (The 2026 Census was held in August 2026; its religion data are due in 2027.)

Other key 2021 figures: Catholic 20.0%, Anglican 9.8%, Islam 3.2%, Hinduism 2.7%, Buddhism 2.4%. About 88% of Australians identified as Christian in the 1947 census, and still more than 85% in 1971; the decline has been steady since.

Interpret with care: the form first told people to write 'none' if they had no religion in 1971, and in 2016 'No religion' was moved to the top of the list. Affiliation also says nothing about how often people pray or attend worship.

Explaining the changes

• Christianity remains the largest tradition but is declining. Catholics overtook Anglicans as the largest denomination in 1986, helped by post-war migration from Catholic countries.
• Immigration made Australia multifaith. Post-war European migration brought more Catholic and Orthodox Christians; after the White Australia policy was dismantled (1966–1973), migration from Asia and the Middle East brought Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.
• Denominational switching is moving between denominations, for example from the Uniting or Anglican Church to a Pentecostal church. Pentecostal churches grew from the 1970s through contemporary worship and an emphasis on experiencing the Holy Spirit.
• New Age religions are eclectic, individual spiritualities focused on personal growth; they are hard to measure in the census.
• Secularism (the process is often called secularisation) is the declining influence of religion on public life and personal belief. It is the main reason for the rise of 'no religion', especially among young adults. Loss of trust in institutions has added to it, for example after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2013–2017).

Ecumenism is the movement towards unity and cooperation among Christian churches. Do not use it for relations between religions (that is interfaith dialogue).

• The Uniting Church (22 June 1977): the Methodist, Congregational and most Presbyterian churches united. It is the clearest Australian example of churches actually merging.
• The National Council of Churches in Australia (1994): replaced the Australian Council of Churches (1946). The big change was the Catholic Church joining as a full member. Its work includes Act for Peace, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission and dialogues between churches.
• State councils such as the NSW Ecumenical Council bring churches together for shared prayer (for example the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity), dialogue and joint advocacy.

Ecumenism has limits: churches still differ on the Eucharist, on who may receive communion and on ordained ministry, so full visible unity has not been achieved.

Interfaith dialogue is conversation and cooperation between different religious traditions. It grew as immigration made Australia multifaith and as communities needed to respond together to tensions.

• The Australian National Dialogue of Christians, Muslims and Jews (begun 2003) links national bodies of the three traditions.
• Local interfaith councils and school programs build understanding.
• Melbourne hosted the Parliament of the World's Religions in 2009.

When assessing it, weigh its role in social cohesion (especially in a crisis) against its limits (it often involves leaders rather than ordinary adherents).

Reconciliation is building a just and respectful relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians. Milestones in the wider process include the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (1991–2000), National Sorry Day (26 May, first held in 1998), the National Apology (2008), the Uluru Statement from the Heart (2017) and the 2023 referendum on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament, which did not pass. Churches matter here because many ran missions and took part in removing children; acknowledging this is part of their contribution.

• Uniting Church: Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (1985), the Covenant (1994) and the revised Preamble to its Constitution (2009) recognising First Peoples.
• Catholic Church: Pope John Paul II's 1986 address at Alice Springs affirmed Aboriginal culture and its place in the Church.
• Church apologies to the Stolen Generations after 1997.
• Rainbow Spirit Theology (1997): Aboriginal Christian elders expressing faith through Aboriginal understandings of land and the Creator Spirit.
• Other traditions: Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist organisations have also taken part, for example through interfaith statements supporting the Apology and Reconciliation Action Plans.

Worked example

_Outline TWO reasons for the growth of Buddhism in Australia since 1945. (3 marks)_

A full-mark answer gives two distinct reasons with detail. The main reason is immigration: after the White Australia policy was dismantled, refugees and migrants from Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and China brought Buddhism with them and built temples. A second reason is conversion and interest among Australian-born people, attracted by meditation, an emphasis on personal experience rather than doctrine, and the profile of teachers such as the Dalai Lama. A brief statistic (2.4% of Australians in the 2021 Census) earns the third mark.

• Calling the Dreaming a story about the past only.
• Mixing up Mabo (1992, terra nullius rejected) and Wik (1996, coexistence with pastoral leases).
• Using 'ecumenism' for relations between religions.
• Quoting census figures without a year, or reading 'fastest-growing' as 'largest'.
• Writing about Reconciliation in general without naming what a religious tradition actually did.

• MCQs often include a table of census data. Calculate the change before choosing, and check whether the options talk about shares or numbers.
• The 5-mark short answer is marked holistically. Full marks need accurate, specific detail (names, dates, data) and a clear response to the verb: 'describe' (features), 'explain' (how and why), 'assess' (judgement).
• Spend about 8–10 minutes on the short answer; a focused half-page is enough.

• Secularism and 'no religion': SoR I does not include the Religion and Non-Religion topic, but you still need to explain the rise of 'no religion' in the census using secularism.
• Christianity depth study: ecumenism links to significant people such as Pope John XXIII (Second Vatican Council).
• Depth studies: the growth of Buddhism and Islam through immigration links this topic to your depth studies.