The Ethos of Protection for Freedom of Religion or Belief in Australian Law

Abstract

This article suggests that an ‘ethos’ of protection for freedom of religion or belief (‘FoRB’) exists in Australian law. The ethos involves three components. First, an approach to rights protection found in international and Australian domestic law which both recognises the individual right to FoRB, and the need for it to be balanced against the community interest. Second, the content of the right itself, found in constitutional, statutory (Commonwealth, State, and Territory), and common law protections for FoRB. And, third, remedies for the violation of the right, which operate within a wider rights ‘dialogue’ or ‘conversation’ between the three branches of government—legislative, executive, and judicial—in an attempt to balance individual and community interests implicated by FoRB.