Opinions are always changing, particularly on such a topical issue as should Australia be a republic? However, it is interesting to look at responses to a survey in 1993 and the relationship of answers to religious identification and behaviour. 
Australian Culture and Society
Religion And The Republic
Monday, April 19th, 2010Inequality And Poverty In Australia
Monday, April 19th, 2010Why did Australia not manage to make any progress in the fight
against poverty over the decade despite falls in unemployment and
steady economic growth in that period? (Harding, Lloyd and Greenwell
2001)
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was held on
October 17 2002 as part of the Uniting Nations Decade for the
Eradication of Poverty 1997-2006. This article will review some
current research on the state of the Australian labour market, income
inequality and poverty in Australia. Government reforms proposed by
the Brotherhood of St Lawrence will also be considered.
Reforming The Welfare State
Monday, April 19th, 2010Historically, in both Britain and Australia, welfare provision as been perceived as the moral responsibility of the state. While some have considered assistance as the right of those less fortunate, government welfare policy has shifted away from this perception towards one of the mutual obligation of citizen and state. While this position might seem entirely reasonable, its expression through recent policy has arguably not always been in the interests of either welfare recipients or Australian society. Given the churches crucial role in social justice (both through local programs and denominational agencies) the outcomes of policy have a direct impact on the operation of welfare and church organisations.
This article draws on Reforming the Australian Welfare State (Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne, 2000), edited by Peter Saunders, previously the research manager of the Australian Institute of Family Studies. This book contains a variety of contributions written from various perspectives and drawing on various research and organisational and academic perspectives. In particular, reference to British and United States examples serve to contextualise Australian policy within the broader social and economic climate. The aim of this article is to present some current issues in welfare provision, especially in the area of labour force participation, and the implications this has for recipients of welfare and for society. Some likely effects on the churches and other charitable organisations will also be explored.
Blackleg Churches?
Monday, April 19th, 2010What follows is a precis of the Presidential address given at the 2001 conference of the Australian Association for the Study of Religions, Melbourne, July 2001. A more detailed version can be found in Australian Religion Studies Review 14(2) 2001 pp 5-16. ‘Blackleg Churches’ forms part of a longer study by Marion Maddox, For God and Country: Religious Dynamics in Australian Federal Politics (299pp., Canberra: Department of the Parliamentary Library 2001), available from The Parliament Shop, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600, telephone (02) 6277 5050; fax (02) 6277 5068. Retail price A$20.00
Consuming Religion
Monday, April 19th, 2010Reflections on Vincent Miller, Consuming
Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture.
From Pointers, Volume 16. Number 4. December 2006.
Spiritual Capital: An Important Asset Of Workplace And Community?
Monday, April 19th, 2010‘Spiritual capital’ is reflected in what a community or organisation exists for, aspires to and for what it takes responsibility. If an organisation operates out of values of service and is focussed on the wellbeing of people, it can be said to have high levels of spiritual capital.
Why Warriors Lie Down And Die
Monday, April 19th, 2010The year 2000 has seen some important advances in the cause of justice for Aboriginal people in Australia. The walks for reconciliation in several major cities have provided a way in which many thousands of Australians have been able to express their opinions. The imagery of the opening of the Olympic Games gave Aboriginal people an appropriate place as the ‘elders’ of this ancient land. The participation of Aboriginal athletes in the Olympic games, especially Kathy Freeman, gave both non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal Australians a new pride in the Aboriginal people. But the issues raised by the health, life expectancy, the numbers of incarcerations, and so on, will not easily be resolved. A major contribution to understanding the issues has been made by Richard Trudgen in his new book Why Warriors Lie Down and Lie (Aboriginal Resources and Development Services, Darwin, 2000).
What Will The 3rd Millennium Hold For The Churches Of Australia?
Monday, April 19th, 2010Predicting the future is always risky. The world is such a complex place that the unexpected can always happen – apart from trying to predict divine activity! Yet we spend much of our time preparing for the future. We train leaders for the future church. We build buildings to be used in the future. We establish organisation structures to serve us into the future. To some extent, we can take the future into our hands through our imagination, creativity, and determination. We either do these things on the basis of tradition, ignoring the fact that the future may be different. We may prepare the future on some general hunches. Or, we can use the best information we can gather.
Small Religious Groups In Australia
Monday, April 19th, 2010The Standard Edition of the CD-Rom, Australia’s Religious Communities: A Multimedia Exploration, has 28 religious groups on its menu. Among these, 16 are major Christian denominations, 6 other religious groups, 5 families of religions and no religion. Together, these covered the religious identity of approximate 17.4 million Australians and every group with more than 5,000 people identifying with it according to the 1996 Census. The Professional Edition of the CD-Rom details another 90 small religious groups with less than 5,000 people identifying. What are these groups and where have they come from?