Mapping Religion in Australian Federal Legislation: An Empirical Analysis of 288 Federal Statutes

This article presents the first systematic, empirical mapping of explicit references to religion in Australian federal legislation. Drawing on a dataset of 288 statutes in force as of March 2024, the analysis employs a dictionary of 71 religious terms to identify the scope and nature of legislative engagement with religion. The analysis reveals a distinctive legislative mode of balancing freedom of religion or belief through legislation, and, in particular, statutory exemptions, rather than judicial review, advancing the understanding of Australia’s pragmatic approach to church–state relations. The study reveals that religion appears across a wide spectrum of federal law, with taxation, exemptions and special considerations, discrimination, rights, education, employment, crime, terrorism, and marriage emerging as key themes. The prevalence of taxation provisions underscores the financial dimension of the state–religion relationship, while the frequency of exemptions highlights the distinctive Australian approach of balancing freedom of religion or belief at the legislative stage rather than through judicial proportionality analysis. These findings complicate portrayals of Australia as a “secular” state and demonstrate the entanglement of religion and federal law, providing a foundation for further research.