A Constitutional Response to Pauline Hanson: Australia Is Not a Constitutionally Christian Nation

This article is published by NATSIC-AS in direct response to claims advanced by Senator Pauline Hanson and One Nation that Australia should be understood as a Christian or Judeo-Christian nation.

That political rhetoric must be tested against the actual words and operation of the Australian Constitution. It must also be considered in light of the place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the religious diversity of modern Australia, and the equal dignity of people who hold different faiths or no religious belief.

The short answer is no.

Australia has been profoundly influenced by Christianity. Christian institutions, beliefs and traditions have played a major role in the country’s political, educational and social history.

Many Australians continue to practise Christianity, just as many practise other religions, maintain Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander spiritual traditions, combine different traditions, or follow no religion.

However, historical influence is not the same as constitutional establishment.

The Australian Constitution does not declare Australia to be a Christian nation. It does not make Christianity the official religion of the Commonwealth, and it does not give any Christian church constitutional authority over the Australian people or government.

That distinction matters whenever religious history is presented as though it determines the constitutional identity, rights or belonging of everyone who lives in Australia.

What Have Pauline Hanson and One Nation Claimed?

Senator Hanson and One Nation have repeatedly characterised Australia as predominantly Christian or Judeo-Christian.

In her 2016 Senate speech, Senator Hanson described Australia as “predominantly a Christian country”, although she also expressly acknowledged that Australia’s government is secular and that the Constitution prevents government-imposed religious rule. The full speech is available through the ABC’s published transcript.

More recently, One Nation published Senator Hanson’s political message that Australia is “predominantly a Judeo-Christian society” and that Western civilisation and its values are under threat. That statement appears on One Nation’s official website.

NATSIC-AS does not dispute anyone’s right to express a Christian faith, to value Christian teachings or to discuss Christianity’s influence on Australian history. Nor do we deny that many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are Christian.

However, three different propositions must not be confused:

1. Christianity has substantially influenced Australian history and institutions.

2. A proportion of the Australian population identifies as Christian.

3. The Australian Constitution establishes Australia as a Christian nation.

The first two propositions concern history, culture and demography. The third is a constitutional claim—and it is incorrect.

If “Christian nation” is being used merely as a cultural or political slogan, it remains open to public debate. If it is being presented as a statement of Australia’s constitutional identity, the constitutional text does not support it.

Why Do Some People Say Australia Is Constitutionally Christian?

The argument usually begins with the preamble to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900.

The preamble records that the people of the Australian colonies agreed to federate while “humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God”. That language unquestionably reflects the political culture and religious assumptions present at the time of Federation.

But the reference does not establish Christianity as Australia’s official religion.

The words appear in the introductory preamble to the Imperial Act through which the Constitution was enacted. They are not an operative provision creating legislative power, imposing religious duties or establishing a national church. The operative Constitution begins within clause 9 of that Act and sets out the institutions and powers of the Commonwealth.

It is therefore important to distinguish between:

● historical language acknowledging belief in God; and

● an operative constitutional rule establishing a particular religion.

The Constitution contains the first, but not the second. The constitutional text is available through the Federal Register of Legislation.

What Does Section 116 of the Australian Constitution Say?

Section 116 is the Constitution’s principal provision concerning religion. It states, in part, that the Commonwealth must not make a law “for establishing any religion”. It also prevents the Commonwealth from legislating to impose religious observance, prohibit the free exercise of religion, or require a religious test for Commonwealth office or public trust.

Section 116 therefore contains four distinct constitutional restrictions:

1. The Commonwealth must not establish any religion.

2. The Commonwealth must not impose religious observance.

3. The Commonwealth must not prohibit the free exercise of religion.

4. A religious test cannot be required for Commonwealth office or public trust.

The language is not limited to Christianity. It refers to any religion.

This is fundamentally inconsistent with the proposition that the Constitution established Christianity as the official religion of Australia. The constitutional text does not identify a national church, Christian denomination or religious doctrine to which citizens must belong or which the Commonwealth must maintain.

Does Section 116 Create a Complete Separation of Church and State?

No. The position is more complicated.

It is sometimes said that Australia has a strict constitutional separation between church and state comparable to the United States. That description goes too far.

Section 116 is framed as a restriction on Commonwealth legislative power. It is not expressed as a comprehensive personal bill of rights, and it does not expressly declare Australia to be a secular republic. Importantly, its words apply to the Commonwealth and do not directly impose the same constitutional restriction on State parliaments.

Parliamentary and human rights sources also recognise that the High Court has generally interpreted s 116 narrowly. The Australian Human Rights Commission describes the constitutional protection as limited because it applies principally to Commonwealth legislation rather than every form of governmental action. See the Commission’s overview of freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief.

Accordingly, two propositions can both be true:

● Australia does not have a constitutionally established Christian religion; and

● the Constitution does not create an absolute or comprehensive separation between religion and government.

What Has the High Court Said About Establishing a Religion?

The leading authority is Attorney-General (Vic); Ex rel Black v Commonwealth (1981) 146 CLR 559, commonly known as the DOGS Case.

The case concerned Commonwealth financial assistance for non-government schools, including religious schools. The High Court rejected the argument that the funding legislation established a religion contrary to s 116.

The judgments adopted a relatively narrow understanding of constitutional “establishment”. In general terms, establishment involves making a religion an official national institution or identifying it with the civil authority in a constitutional sense.

Government interaction with, recognition of, or financial assistance to religious organisations does not automatically amount to establishing a state religion.

That interpretation confirms why the constitutional question should be answered carefully. Australia is not constitutionally Christian, but neither does s 116 remove every connection between religion and public institutions. A detailed Parliamentary discussion of the provision and the case is available in Parliamentary Prayers and Section 116 of the Australian Constitution.

Is Australia a Secular Nation?

The word “secular” does not appear as a declaration of national identity in the Constitution. It is therefore more accurate to describe Australia as a religiously plural democracy with no constitutionally established national religion.

Public institutions may retain practices shaped by Christian history, including parliamentary prayers and ceremonies. Governments may also interact with faith-based schools, charities, hospitals and community organisations. Those practices can generate legitimate debates about inclusion, equality and the appropriate relationship between religion and government.

But none of those practices transforms Christianity into Australia’s constitutionally established religion.

People are entitled to practise Christianity and to advocate from Christian convictions. People of other faiths are equally entitled to practise and express their beliefs.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are entitled to maintain and practise their cultures, spiritual traditions and relationships with Country. People are also entitled to hold agnostic or atheistic beliefs and to live without religious observance.

Freedom of religion must include freedom for religion, freedom between religions and freedom from religious coercion.

A First Nations Perspective: Whose History Did the Constitution Recognise?

The reference to Almighty God must also be understood within the broader history of Federation.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had lived under their own laws, cultures, spiritual traditions and systems of authority for tens of thousands of years before the Constitution came into force.

Yet First Peoples were not represented at the Federation Conventions where the Constitution was drafted. A Parliamentary committee has recorded that the Constitution still does not recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia. See the Parliament of Australia’s account of the constitutional history and exclusion of First Peoples.

The original constitutional text did not simply overlook First Peoples. It contained provisions that expressly discriminated against Aboriginal people.

Before the 1967 referendum, s 51(xxvi) excluded Aboriginal people in the States from the Commonwealth’s race power, while s 127 excluded “aboriginal natives” when reckoning population numbers for constitutional purposes. Those discriminatory references were altered following the overwhelming 1967 referendum result. The National Archives of Australia provides the historical record of those changes.

This history exposes a significant contradiction. The founding Act invoked the blessing of Almighty God while the constitutional settlement excluded First Peoples from representation and contained discriminatory provisions concerning them.

That does not invalidate the personal faith of Christians, including the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are Christian. Nor should it be used to replace one form of exclusion with another. It does, however, demonstrate why a single religious tradition cannot be presented as the constitutional identity of every person and every culture on this continent.

For NATSIC-AS, respect for freedom of belief must sit alongside respect for First Nations cultures, dignity, equality and self-determination.

Why the Constitutional Distinction Matters

Calling Australia a “Christian nation” may be intended as a cultural, demographic or historical statement. In political debate, however, the expression can also be used to suggest that Christian Australians possess a superior constitutional claim to national identity, public institutions or law-making.

That proposition is not supported by the constitutional text.

Citizenship, human dignity and belonging are not conditional upon adherence to Christianity. No Australian should be treated as less authentically Australian because they are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Sikh, from another faith tradition, agnostic or atheist.

The Constitution establishes governmental institutions and distributes public power. It does not establish a hierarchy of citizens based on religious belief.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the reference to “Almighty God” make Australia a Christian nation?

No. The reference appears in the preamble to the Act through which the Constitution was enacted. It reflects the historical context of Federation but does not establish Christianity as an official religion or create an operative governmental power based on Christian doctrine.

Is Christianity Australia’s official religion?

No. Australia has no constitutionally established official religion.

Does the Constitution prohibit the Commonwealth from establishing a religion?

Yes. Section 116 prevents the Commonwealth from making a law for establishing any religion.

Does section 116 apply directly to State laws?

No. Section 116 is directed to the Commonwealth. Religious freedom and discrimination issues at State and Territory level may instead involve State constitutions, human rights legislation, anti-discrimination laws and other statutory protections.

Does section 116 provide an absolute personal right to religious freedom?

No. Its operation is limited, and the High Court has generally interpreted it narrowly. It should not be treated as a comprehensive Australian bill of rights.

Can governments work with or fund religious organisations?

Yes, subject to applicable constitutional and statutory limits. Government interaction with or funding of a religious organisation does not, by itself, necessarily establish that religion as the official religion of the Commonwealth.

The Constitutional Answer

Australia has a substantial Christian history, but history is not constitutional establishment.

The preamble’s reference to Almighty God does not make Australia a Christian nation in constitutional law. Section 116 points in the opposite direction by preventing the Commonwealth from making a law establishing any religion. Although that protection is limited and has been interpreted narrowly, the Constitution does not grant Christianity official constitutional supremacy.

Australia belongs equally to people of every faith and to people of no faith. Recognising that constitutional reality is not an attack on Christianity. It is a commitment to truth, inclusion and the equal dignity of everyone who shares this country.

The answer to Senator Hanson’s rhetoric is therefore straightforward: Christian influence is part of Australia’s history, but Christianity is not established as Australia’s official religion and the Constitution does not make Australia a Christian nation.

About NATSIC-AS

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation – Advocacy Service (NATSIC-AS) provides professional advocacy, information and support concerning employment, human rights, discrimination, workers’ compensation and related matters.

Email: gethelp@natsic.org

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