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The precarious state of Christianity in Australia.

Just last Thursday, the Australian Christian Freedom Index was launched at Parliament House, Canberra. The 100-page document was produced by Kurt Mahlburg, Warwick Marsh, Samuel Hartwich and Kym Farnik of the Canberra Declaration team.

It was sponsored and co-authored by Michelle Pearse of the Australian Christian Lobby; Peter Downie of FamilyVoice Australia; George Christensen of CitizenGO; John Steenhof of the Human Rights Law Alliance; and Damian Wyld of the Australian Family Coalition.

Especially important were the major contributions of the legal co-authors: Professor Augusto Zimmermann, Foundation Dean and Professor of Law at Alphacrucis University College, and Professor Gabriël Moens AM, Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Queensland.

Surveying the State of Religious Freedom

This alarming inaugural report documents how Christian freedoms are clearly under attack in Australia, with more and more believers reporting minor if not serious restrictions to their faith. Indeed, this invaluable document is the product of the feedback from nearly 11,000 Australians.

The opening paragraph of the Executive Summary puts it this way:

Almost two and a half centuries after its arrival on our shores, Christianity remains Australia’s largest faith, comprising more than 11 million adherents. But in the 2020s, it is also a religion under pressure. The statistics and stories featured in this inaugural report of the Australian Christian Freedom Index (ACFI) put that reality in the spotlight. They also serve as a reminder that religious freedom is a fading star in the constellation of liberties that illuminate nations like Australia.

And part of the Key Findings section says this:

The inaugural report of the Australian Christian Freedom Index (ACFI) represents the first attempt of this scale to measure the state of Christian freedom in Australia. Its findings, while sobering, stand on a firm evidential base—including an audit of legislation spanning nine jurisdictions, a catalogue of cases involving scores of individuals named and unnamed, a review of global religious freedom indices, and an account of Australia’s legal history from 1788 to the present.

It is also informed by the responses of 10,808 Christians from across Australia’s six states and two territories, who took part in the ACFI Survey, conducted between 27 February and 6 April 2026. Respondents were asked about their personal experiences and their perceptions of freedom across five key domains of Christian life and practice. Being self-selecting, the survey does not claim to statistically represent all Australians or all Australian Christians. But the scale of participation—more than 10,000 responses—constitutes a substantial body of documented testimony and gives human texture to the other data presented in these pages.

Taken together, the findings tell a coherent, if confronting, story: The law is moving in one direction. Christian freedoms have been narrowed through 74 Acts passed in Australia’s parliaments over the last 25 years. Almost half of those laws were enacted in the last five years—triple the rate of the two decades before. The mechanisms vary: conversion practices bans that criminalise certain forms of prayer and pastoral care, even when requested by the person receiving them; vilification laws that enable complaints and prosecution against biblical teaching on sexuality; healthcare referral mandates that override conscience; and funding conditions that hinge institutional survival on compliance with policies at odds with Christian ethics.

In brief, this is what the respondents said about religious liberty in Australia:

• 92% said it is riskier to affirm Christian beliefs than five years ago.
• 73% felt pressured to keep their beliefs private in public, online or at work.
• 42% experienced hostility, threats or harassment for expressing a Christian worldview.
• 25% were denied opportunities in work, volunteering or leadership because of their beliefs.

Given that I am a Victorian, it comes as no surprise to read what the document says about my own state:

Victoria is the most restrictive state in the country. The ACFI Restriction Index, derived from an audit of 20 specific legislative restrictions, reveals a clear hierarchy across Australia’s states and territories. Victoria emerges as the most restrictive state by a large margin, with pressures spanning every domain of Christian life—from church ministry to aged care service delivery, and from hiring and enrolment decisions to vilification complaint exposure. Western Australia is the least restrictive, having successfully resisted many of the impositions that have taken hold elsewhere.

It should be pointed out that what we find in this booklet are not just facts, raw numbers and statistics (with 316 endnotes, it is quite well documented), but real stories by real people. The well-known stories of persecuted believers are recorded here, of course: Jereth Kok, Kirralie Smith, Lyle Shelton, Bernard Gaynor, etc.

Personal Stories Behind the Statistics

But ‘ordinary Joes’ are also discussed. Here are just four brief examples:

I am a teacher in Victoria and see many children confused about their sexuality or gender. We cannot offer a different view than the one they have chosen or articulate anything, even when it’s clear they are confused and seeking help from possibly the only adult they trust. Teachers do not help at all for fear of possible litigation from authorities.

And again:

I worked in a big, very well-known Australian company. Their ‘inclusiveness’ covered everything except Christianity. I was reprimanded for not wearing the company-issued rainbow socks on National Pride Day. Three years later, I ended up walking out during a shift after having a breakdown from the abuse I received from management.

Another:

I had my roster changed and hours cut by a temporary supervisor (who’d stated to other workers that she was not going to give good shifts to the ‘Bible-bashing b****). She denied it when I confronted her but could not explain the roster changes. Three months later, she put in a serious false complaint and had me unfairly dismissed. I won in court but did not want to go back to that workplace.

One final story:

I studied Evolutionary and Population Genetics at the University of Melbourne in the second year of my Bachelor of Science degree. At the very first lecture in this subject, the lecturer said, “I want all the Christians to stand up.” I did not stand up because I was afraid. No one stood up. I don’t know why he wanted to single out Christians.

Of interest, the authors make use of work done by Floyd Brobbel of Voice of the Martyrs on the matter of Christian persecution. His eight-stage persecution scale runs as follows:

– Ridicule: To deride; make fun of; mock

– Harassment: To disturb; pester; trouble repeatedly

– Discrimination: To treat, or consider, or distinguish in favour of or against religious intolerance

– Defamation: To communicate false statements about a person that injure the reputation of that person

– Attack: To set upon in a forceful, violent, hostile, or aggressive way, with or without weapons

– Detainment: To seize, capture, or take or keep in custody by authority of law

– Torture: To inflict excruciating pain as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information or subjection or sheer cruelty

– Martyrdom: The conditions, suffering, or death of a martyr [witness]

A Warning About the Future of Christian Liberty

The report says that Australian Christians have gone through the first five stages so far. However, one can argue that stage 6 is already here, with various believers having been imprisoned over recent years. This includes Christian pro-lifers.

One of the more notable examples of this is Melbourne Pastor Paul Furlong, who spent 17 days in jail – 14 in solitary confinement – for daring to keep his church open during the Covid wars back in 2021. We interviewed Paul at the time here:

Whether we are now at stage five or six, there is no question that persecution is ramping up in this nation. It will simply get worse, unless Christians wake up and start speaking out for religious liberty, which is why this booklet is so very important.

It closes with 42 recommendations and a number of helpful prayer points. Many thanks to the team for all the hard work and effort in making this document available. And we look forward to updated reports appearing in the years ahead.

For more information, please visit their website.

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Republished with thanks to CultureWatch.