Ruth Powell: How Religious are Australians?

Religion has an undeniable place in the Australian story.

Can Australia be described as a Christian nation? This is the sort of question that I have been asked by people visiting from other countries. It sounds like a simple question, but there are different ways to answer it.

The first point to make is that Australia's indigenous people have been in this nation for around 60,000 years. They have a deep spirituality and sense of connectedness to the land.

A group of more recent arrivals to these ancient shores came from the United Kingdom in chains some 200 years ago. Some Christian clergy were part of the landscape as authority figures, which created a rocky start for Christianity. Since then migrant communities have continued to find their way to Australia, seeking a better life for themselves and their children, making it the second most multicultural nation in the world (after Luxemburg!). Many bring their religion with them.

In recent decades, Australia, like other western nations, has experienced extraordinary and rapid social change in recent decades. This changing social context has been analysed and described by philosophers, social scientists, theologians, artists and others. So what is the situation now? How much has it changed? Keep reading