STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator ANTIC (South Australia) (13:36): The Australian Christian Freedom Index has recently published a report on the state of religious liberty pertaining to Christians in Australia. Over 10,000 Christians were surveyed and shared their experiences regarding expressing their faith. Ninety-two per cent said that they think it's riskier to affirm Christian beliefs than it was five years ago.

Forty-two per cent said they experienced hostility, threats or harassment for expressing what they considered to be a Christian worldview. This most likely relates to opinions that could involve things like marriage and family. Twenty-five per cent said they were denied opportunities at work, volunteering or leadership due to their beliefs.

Now, while these are always subjective perspectives, it signals something that many Australians of conservative persuasions have felt for a very long time—that is, an ideology hostile to Christianity has taken hold in our institutions. This is something that I've been talking about for a long period of time. There were university students in this document expressing frustration at being dismissed for conservative opinions, which supposedly free-thinking academic institutions can't tolerate.

Teachers in Christian schools expressed frustration with being policed in an environment where their faith is meant to provide the ethos in their workplace. And, personally, I've had many people who have escaped communist countries tell me that Australia feels eerily like what they fled from many years ago. Sometimes they whisper to state their honest opinion to avoid being overheard or they feel the need to police themselves lest they face disciplinary measures from HR departments.

It shouldn't be this way in Australia, and all I can say is that it's important that we live not by lies. There's a difference between arrogantly pushing one's belief onto others and simply holding to one's religious convictions. Many Australians feel that the latter has become risky.

I would encourage anyone listening to go and read the Australian Christian Freedom Index document from May this year. It touches on a whole lot of important subjects, including, but not limited to, the ones I've mentioned this afternoon.