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The status of religious freedom in Oceania varies from country to country. States can differ based on whether or not they guarantee equal treatment under law for followers of different religions, whether they establish a state religion (and the legal implications that this has for both practitioners and non-practitioners), the extent to which religious organizations operating within the country are policed, and the extent to which religious law is used as a basis for the country's legal code.
There are further discrepancies between some countries' self-proclaimed stances of religious freedom in law and the actual practice of authority bodies within those countries: a country's establishment of religious equality in their constitution or laws does not necessarily translate into freedom of practice for residents of the country. Additionally, similar practices (such as having religious organizations register with the government) can have different consequences depending on other sociopolitical circumstances specific to the countries in question.
All of the countries in Oceania officially guarantee the right to freedom of religion in a constitution or bill of rights, although over half qualify this freedom as being subordinate to other concerns such as public safety or "morality". Additionally, a few countries have communal local leadership structures which are sometimes hostile to foreign religions, despite official legal requirements for tolerance.[1][2] Only two countries in Oceania, Samoa and Tuvalu, have state religions (Christianity for Samoa and a specific Christian church for Tuvalu), and a few additional countries specifically reference Christianity as a core or founding principle in their constitutions.[3][4][5] According to US government reports, about one quarter of the countries in Oceania have had no significant breaches of the freedom of religion;[6][7] a similar proportion have recorded incidents of violence against religious minorities in the 21st century, against Hindus (Fiji[8]), Jews (Australia[9][10]) and Muslims (New Zealand[11] and Papua New Guinea,[1] with other countries having significant quantities of anti-Muslim political discourse[8][12]).
- ^ a b International Religious Freedom Report 2017 § Papua New GuineaUS Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
- ^ Saada Angelica, Samoa: A Truly Religious Place? Views Towards Religion in Samoa, S.I.T. Samoa, 2008
- ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2017 § Tuvalu, US State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
- ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2017 § Samoa, US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
- ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2017 § Vanuatu US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
- ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2017 § Palau US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
- ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2017 § Nauru US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
- ^ a b International Religious Freedom Report 2017 § Fiji US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
- ^ Adelaide synagogue targeted with neo-Nazi posters linked to Antipodean Resistance
- ^ Carroll, Lucy (2022-08-31). "Knox Grammar students suspended after posting offensive messages in chat group". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
- ^ "Royal Commission of Inquiry announced following the Christchurch terror attacks". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- ^ Poynting, Scott, and Victoria Mason. "The resistible rise of Islamophobia Anti-Muslim racism in the UK and Australia before 11 September 2001." Journal of Sociology 43, no. 1 (2007): 61-86.