Three discourses of religious freedom in Australian public life
The issue of religious freedom burst into Australian public discourse during the lead-up to marriage equality – or so it seemed when, for more than two years after the announcement in 2017 of a voluntary postal survey on same-sex marriage, religious freedom was an almost daily topic in the media. While religious freedom has been a matter of public debate in Australia since the early- to mid-1800s and issues relating to religious freedom in Australia are being increasingly addressed by scholars from various disciplines, the contemporary discourse of religious freedom has remained largely unexamined.
This paper describes the three distinct discourses of religious freedom identified by examining public debates over a period of 35 years to 2019. Applying methodologies from within critical discourse analysis, texts from four different genres—public inquiry submissions, parliamentary speeches, public inquiry reports and media texts—have been analysed to determine how policy actors have constructed (problematised and framed) the concept of religious freedom and applied it to achieve certain political outcomes.
This paper offers a comprehensive understanding of the shifting discourse of religious freedom in Australia, exposing it as a powerful political construction subject to change for political purposes. The research demonstrates how religious freedom has shifted from a discourse used in support of an inclusive social agenda to one opposing it.

Biography
Elenie Poulos completed her PhD in politics in 2020 in the Department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University. Her PhD thesis examines the rise of the politics of religious freedom in Australia. Elenie is a minister in the Uniting Church in Australia and was, for 15 years, the National Director of UnitingJustice Australia, the Church’s national justice policy and advocacy unit. 

Chair: Professor Mary Lou Rasmussen (ANU Sociology )

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