Australia’s first-ever Australian Christian Freedom Index (ACFI) was launched at the Australian Parliament in Canberra today.  

As reported by the Daily Declaration, the Index is a comprehensive audit and review of Christian and religious freedoms in Australia.  

The Index initiated a national survey of more than 10,000 Australian Christians and their views on faith and freedom in their country. It also reviewed 74 Acts of Parliament for their effect on religious freedoms. The findings include the following: 

• 92% of respondents in the survey felt it is riskier to affirm Christian beliefs publicly today than it was five years ago. 

• 74 Acts of Parliament now exist that negatively affect Christian freedom for Australians, with nearly half of these being passed in the last five years. 

• Identifying six main causes of discrimination and persecution of Christians in Australia: 

                o Doctrinal drift, where institutions have accommodated secular-progressive values at the cost of legal protection for those who will not 

                o “Misplaced meekness” — the belief that Christian humility requires silence in the face of injustice. 

                o Secular progressivism has recast biblically orthodox belief as social harm 

                o The expanding state apparatus has given that moral vision legal teeth  

                o Legal asymmetry in which religious freedom rests on narrow exemptions that can be litigated away or later repealed. 

                o Islamist extremism, as documented in the high-profile 2024 stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel. 

The full report is available here. 

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