The Australian Christian Freedom Index, launched at Parliament House on Thursday, identifies 74 Acts across nine Australian jurisdictions that restrict Christian freedoms. Almost half have been introduced in the past five years.

The 108-page report draws on a survey of 10,808 Australian Christians, more than 40 documented cases of discrimination or prosecution, and a 25-year legislative audit. HRLA is a co-author. 

John Steenhof, HRLA’s principal lawyer, said the high-profile cases the Index identifies are just the tip of the iceberg.

Legislative restrictions on Christian belief and practice have tripled in the past five years. This is a significant alteration of the statutory landscape, across multiple parliaments, in a single direction.

The survey findings track the legislative record. Ninety-two per cent of Christians surveyed said it is riskier today than five years ago to publicly identify as Christian. Seventy-three per cent feel pressured to keep their faith private at work, online, or in public. Forty-two per cent reported hostility, threats, or harassment for expressing a Christian view. Twenty-five per cent said they had been denied opportunities in work, volunteering, or leadership because of their beliefs.

The Index documents more than 40 cases of Australian Christians prosecuted, disciplined, or sidelined for expressing or living out their faith. The high-profile matters sit on top of a longer pattern of ordinary Australians losing jobs, being removed from university courses, and being pushed out of leadership roles, often without public attention.

Workplaces are the highest-risk environment, with education and healthcare the most pressured sectors. The Index ranks Victoria as the most restrictive Australian jurisdiction for Christians, followed by the ACT, South Australia, and Queensland. Western Australia is the least. The variation matters: the legislative drift is a matter of political choice in each parliament, not a constitutional inevitability.

Among its recommendations, the Index proposes an Australian Freedoms Act – an enforceable nationwide statutory protection for speech, religion, conscience, and association.

A society that legislates against the public expression of belief at this pace, in this direction, is making a choice about the kind of pluralism it intends to allow.

HRLA will continue to represent Australians caught by these laws and to argue for the legal reform a serious commitment to religious freedom requires.

The report is available at australianchristianfreedomindex.org.au.