Multiculturalism

neilfoster

First volume of Australian Journal of Law and Religion published

Great to see that the first volume of the Australian Journal of Law and Religion has been published: see here. All articles are free to download. Congratulations to editors Alex Deagon and Jeremy Patrick on this new venture! I am honoured to have an article in this first issue on “Religious Freedom, Section 109 of the Constitution, and Anti-discrimination Laws”.

For convenience, here is a copy of the first table of contents:

Articles

Law and Religion in the Classroom: Teaching Church-State Relationships: Renae Barker

The Formation of Islamic Law in Indonesia: The Interplay Between Islamic Authorities and the State: Muhammad Latif Fauzi

Religious Freedom, Section 109 of the Constitution, and Anti-discrimination Laws: Neil Foster

Why the Jury in Pell v The Queen Must Have Had a Doubt and the High Court was Right to Quash the Guilty Verdicts: Andrew Hemming

Adolescent Gender Identity and the Sex Discrimination Act: The Case for Religious Exemptions: Patrick Parkinson

Book Reviews

Christians: The Urgent Case for Jesus in Our World by Greg Sheridan: Katie Murray

Law and Religion in the Liberal State edited by Md Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan and Darryn Jensen: Jeremy Patrick

Special Topic Forum: The Future of Law and Religion in Australia

The Continued Existence of the Crime of Blasphemy in Australia: Luke Beck

Proportionality in Australian Constitutional Law: Next Stop Section 116?: Anthony Gray

The Liberal and Post-Liberal Futures of Law and Religion in Australia: Joel Harrison

Happy reading!

neilfoster

Does the Secular Party know better than a child’s parents?

An extraordinary claim before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal recently, Secular Party of Australia Inc. v the Department of Education and Training (Human Rights) [2018] VCAT 1321 (27 August 2018), alleged that a child at a public school should be prevented from wearing Islamic religious garb in the child’s own interests! Thankfully the claim failed, but the fact that the case could even be argued illustrates the pressure that some groups on society are placing on parents and children of faith.

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neilfoster

Islam, women’s seating and discrimination

In a very interesting recent decision, Bevege v Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia [2016] NSWCATAD 44 (4 March 2016), the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal has found that an Islamic group unlawfully discriminated against a female member of the audience for a seminar they were running, by requiring her to sit in a “women only” area.

In my view the decision is somewhat disturbing, and has the potential, if followed in the future, to undermine the appropriate recognition of religious freedom in NSW. The implications may extend beyond Muslim groups to a range of religious groups. 

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neilfoster

Multiculturalism and Accommodation of Religious Difference: A Colloquium

My friend and colleague Professor Rex Ahdar from the University of Otago, NZ (and one of the common law world’s leading Law and Religion scholars) is organising a colloquium on “Multiculturalism and Accommodation of Religious Difference” to be held in QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND on Wednesday, 3 February 2016. More details and the official “call for papers” can be found here. To quote the handout:

Scholars in the areas of multiculturalism, pluralism, ethnic studies, demography, religious freedom, human rights and related disciplines are cordially invited to submit an abstract (maximum of 200 words) for a paper to be given at this colloquium of experts.

There is also limited space for participants who do not wish to present a paper, but who wish, nonetheless, to contribute to the lively discussion at this unique event under the auspices of the Faculty of Law, University of Otago

Should be a great day!