An Australian Christian advocacy group has launched a database and released a report exposing infringements on Christians’ religious freedom in Australia.
The group, known as the Canberra Declaration, launched the Australian Christian Freedom Index (ACFI) on March 11 with a 40-page report documenting anti-Christian currents in 2025.
The launch occurred during a webinar where key Christian leaders and legal experts mapped religious discrimination across the country.
The group plans to build a database of hard evidence and survey results to illustrate how state laws restrict Christian freedoms. They intend to present this document to politicians and the media as evidence that Australian Christians face rising discrimination.
A central concern involves the “rule of silence,” in which Christians endure pressure to keep their faith private, especially regarding issues such as gender, parenting, and education, according to George Christensen, a former member of Parliament representing CitizenGO.
Kurt Mahlburg noted that the group is auditing state laws following incidents where governments have forced Christian schools to hire staff members who do not share the institutions’ religious beliefs. He also cited cases of laws compelling medical workers to participate in abortion and euthanasia, as well as restrictions on street preaching near abortion clinics.
Mahlburg and other leaders of the Canberra Declaration aim to use this database to pressure Australia’s state-level parliaments to enact more-robust protections for religious freedom.
Importantly, Australia lacks strong legal protections for religious freedom, meaning that little stands in the way of elected officials restricting Christians’ ability to practice their faith freely.
While the United States relies on the First Amendment, Mahlburg observed that Australia offers only small “exemptions” rather than robust rights.
“What strikes me is that in Australia, we really don’t have religious freedom explicitly protected in law, not robustly,” Mahlburg stated.
“In the last couple of decades, federal and state governments have brought in anti-discrimination and vilification legislation,” Mahlburg added. “Christian freedom in Australia has become a series of ‘carve-outs’ or exemptions in other laws. Structurally, the situation in Australia is not good.”