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2010 Global Atheist Convention
Atheism, agnosticism, scepticism, freethought, secular humanism or general irreligion are increasing in Australia. Post-war Australia has become a highly secularised country. Religion does not play a major role in the lives of much of the population. In the country's 2021 census, 38.9% of Australians (or 9,886,957 people) selected either "no religion" or specified their form of irreligion, almost nine percent higher (and 2,846,240 more people) than the . 7.2% did not state their religion, or gave an unclear response, meaning that over 46% of Australians did not state a religious affiliation in the 2021 census, a 6.4% increase from the last census. When asked of their religious affiliation in the 2016 census, 29.6% of Australians (or 6,933,708 people) selected "no religion." This is more than seven percent higher (and 2,240,546 more people), than in the . Additionally in 2016, another 0.5% instead opted to specify their form of irreligion, writing it in under "other," hence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Catholicism In Australia
The Catholic Church in Australia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual and administrative leadership of the Holy See. From origins as a suppressed, mainly Irish minority in early colonial times, the church has grown to be the largest Christian denomination in Australia, with a culturally diverse membership of around 5,075,907 people, representing about 19.9% of the overall population of Australia according to the 2021 ABS Census data. The church is the largest non-government provider of welfare and education services in Australia. Catholic Social Services Australia aids some 450,000 people annually, while the St Vincent de Paul Society's 40,000 members form the largest volunteer welfare network in the country. In 2016, the church had some 760,000 students in more than 1,700 schools. The church in Australia has five provinces: Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. It has 35 dioceses, comprising geographic areas as well as the military dio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atheist Alliance International
Atheist Alliance International (AAI) is a non-profit advocacy organization committed to raising awareness and educating the public about atheism. It does this by supporting atheist and freethought organizations around the world through promoting local campaigns, raising awareness of related issues, sponsoring secular education projects and facilitating interaction among secular groups and individuals. History AAI was founded in 1991 as Atheist Alliance, an alliance of four U.S.-based local atheist groups. Over time Atheist Alliance expanded, adding both local/regional U.S. groups and international groups as members. The organization changed its name to Atheist Alliance International in 2001. In 2010 and 2011 members approved the separation of the U.S. and international segments of AAI into separate organizations in order to accommodate the different strategic interests of each group. The U.S. group of AAI was renamed Atheist Alliance of America. The launch of the newly restr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freedom Of Religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom to change one's religion or beliefs, "the right not to profess any religion or belief", or "not to practise a religion". Freedom of religion is considered by many people and most nations to be a fundamental rights, fundamental human right. In a country with a state religion, freedom of religion is generally considered to mean that the government permits religious practices of other sects besides the state religion, and does not religious persecution, persecute believers in other faiths (or those who have no faith). Freedom of belief is different. It allows the right to believe what a person, group, or religion wishes, but it does not necessarily allow the right to practice the religion or belief openly and outwardly in a public manner, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Section 116 Of The Constitution Of Australia
Section 116 of the Constitution of Australia precludes the Commonwealth of Australia (''i.e.'', the federal parliament) from making laws for establishing any religion, imposing any religious observance, or prohibiting the free exercise of any religion. Section 116 also provides that no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth. The product of a compromise in the pre-Federation constitutional conventions, Section 116 is based on similar provisions in the United States Constitution. However, Section 116 is more narrowly drafted than its US counterpart, and does not preclude the states of Australia from making such laws. Section 116 has been interpreted narrowly by the High Court of Australia: while the definition of "religion" adopted by the court is broad and flexible, the scope of the protection of religions is circumscribed. The result of the court's approach has been that no court has ever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian Robinson (rationalist)
Ian Robinson (born 18 November 1940 in Melbourne, Australia) is president emeritus of the Rationalist Society of Australia and immediate past chairman of the Rationalist Association of Australia. Biography He was educated at Ivanhoe Grammar School and the University of Melbourne, where he graduated with honours in philosophy. Subsequently, he has been a tutor in philosophy at the University of Melbourne, a lecturer in philosophy of education at Coburg Teachers' College, leader of the Curriculum Project Team (Primary) for the Victoria Ministry of Education and manager of the Music and Writing Department at Chisholm Institute, from which he retired in 2010. He has been editor of '' Farrago'', ''MUM'', ''National U'', ''Chalkface'' and the ''Australian Rationalist'', and written many articles and books. His fantasy story "The Crypt of Fleeting Hope" was published by Penguin. He has acted in and directed a number of plays at La Mama and the Pram Factory theatres in Melbourne, serv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russell Blackford
Russell Blackford (born 1954) is an Australian writer, philosopher, and literary critic. Early life and education Blackford was born in Sydney, and grew up in the city of Lake Macquarie, near Newcastle, New South Wales. After graduating with first-class honours degrees in both arts and law from the University of Newcastle and University of Melbourne respectively, Blackford was awarded a PhD in English literature, also from Newcastle, on the return to myth in modern fictional narrative (as postulated by Northrop Frye). He completed a Master of Bioethics at Monash University and was awarded a second PhD, in philosophy (also from Monash), for a thesis entitled "The philosophy of human enhancement". His supervisor was Justin Oakley. Career As a fiction writer, Blackford specialises in science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. His work includes four novels published by iBooks, three of them forming an original trilogy (The New John Connor Chronicles) set in the world of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lyn Allison
Lynette Fay Allison (born 21 October 1946) is an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1996 to 2008, representing the state of Victoria. she is the national president of the Australian Democrats. Early life and background Allison was born in Melbourne, Victoria, and grew up in the suburb of Fairfield with her younger brother and sister. Her father was a fitter and turner and her mother was involved in the local church, bowls club, and school tuckshop. Allison was educated at Rosanna High School, and left briefly in year 10 to become a dental nurse, before returning to complete high school. From 1964 to 1986 she worked as an administrator. She gained a Bachelor of Education at the University of Melbourne, and from 1987 to 1991 was a high school art teacher at St Joseph's Technical School Abbotsford and St Paul's College in Altona North. Political career Allison was an Independent councillor of the City of Port Melbourne from 1992 to 1994. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian Hunter (politician)
Ian Keith Hunter (born 23 September 1960) is an Australian politician, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party in the South Australian Legislative Council since the 2006 state election. Hunter served in the Cabinet of South Australia from October 2011 to 2018. Background Hunter grew up in the suburb of Holden Hill in Adelaide's North-East. He was educated at Gilles Plains High School and graduated from Flinders University with a Bachelor of Science (Honours), majoring in Microbiology and Genetics. Throughout university he worked as a Youth Worker at the Child Youth Support Service in Norwood. Hunter was active in community politics at university, becoming president of the Flinders University Gay Society and later going on to help found the South Australian AIDS Action Committee. He was involved in a variety of campaigns in the LGBT community, including a successful move to have sexuality included as a grounds for discrimination in 1986. Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Nitschke
Philip Haig Nitschke (; born 8 August 1947) is an Australian humanist, author, former physician, and founder and director of the pro-euthanasia group Exit International. He campaigned successfully to have a legal euthanasia law passed in Australia's Northern Territory and assisted four people in ending their lives before the law was overturned by the Government of Australia. Nitschke was the first doctor in the world to administer a legal, voluntary, lethal injection, after which the patient activated the syringe using a computer. Nitschke states that he and his group are regularly subject to harassment by authorities. In 2015, Nitschke burned his medical practising certificate in response to what he saw as onerous conditions that violated his right to free speech, imposed on him by the Medical Board of Australia. Nitschke has been referred to in the media as "Dr Death" or "the Elon Musk of assisted suicide". Early life and career Nitschke was born in 1947 in Ardrossan, South Au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graham Oppy
Graham Robert Oppy (born 1960) is an Australian philosopher whose main area of research is the philosophy of religion. He currently holds the posts of Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean of Research at Monash University and serves as CEO of the Australasian Association of Philosophy, Chief Editor of the ''Australasian Philosophical Review'', Associate Editor of the ''Australasian Journal of Philosophy'', and serves on the editorial boards of ''Philo'', ''Philosopher's Compass'', '' Religious Studies'', and '' Sophia''. He was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2009. Biography Graham Oppy was born in Benalla on 6 October 1960 to a Methodist family, but he ceased to be a religious believer as a young teenager, and is now an atheist. His family moved to Ballarat in 1965 and had his secondary schooling at Wesley College, Melbourne. He attended Melbourne University from 1979, where he completed two degrees: a BA (Hons) in philosophy and a BSc in mat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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