Should a religious aged care provider be able to operate in accordance with its religious convictions? This issue is being debated in NSW at the moment in the context of the law allowing “voluntary assisted dying”. The Voluntary Assisted Dying
Law and Religion Australia
Law and Religion Australia, published by Neil Foster, focuses on the intersection of legal issues and religious beliefs within the Australian context. The blog covers topics such as religious freedom in healthcare and aged care, including debates on voluntary assisted dying and faith-based institutions' rights. It addresses employment law matters related to religious schools, particularly concerning gender identity and discrimination laws. The blog also discusses legal scholarship and developments in law and religion, including reviews of relevant academic journals and books. Additionally, it examines cases involving vilification laws, especially those concerning transgender individuals, and explores the balance between religious doctrines and anti-discrimination legislation.
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Australian Journal of Law and Religion- vol 6
The latest volume of the Australian Journal of Law and Religion has been published (and is freely available online here.) The Table of Contents is below- always worth reading!
Contents– Volume 6, 2025
Editorial i
Articles
Modelling the Anchor and…
Pronouns, employment and religious schools
Recent press reports (such as this one from the Guardian) say that an employed teacher at a Victorian Roman Catholic school has taken action against the school for “gender identity” discrimination. The school apparently has refused to allow the teacher,…
Recent cases on transgender vilification
I am presenting some material on vilification laws, and this paper deals with some recent cases on “transgender vilification”: Blanch v Smith (Local Court of NSW; 26 Aug 2025) and Dennis v Smith (Local Court of NSW, 26 Aug 2025).…
Religious Liberty conference at Uni of Notre Dame, Sydney
The University of Notre Dame Australia School of Law and Business will hold its 11th Annual Religious Liberty Lecture on Thursday 11th September 2025 – 5:30pm for 6pm, at St Benedict’s Hall, 104 Broadway, Chippendale, Sydney. A full day Annual…
Freedom for Faith conference
Freedom for Faith is holding its annual conference on religious freedom and the law on September 27th, and is offering a student ticket discount. There is a great line-up of speakers- do come along!
The conference will be held…
The Snail in the Bottle and the Good Samaritan
As mentioned recently, I was invited to address a group of Christian lawyers and law students on a key tort case, the famous “snail in the bottle” case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562, and its connections to the…
Pathways to Justice conference
I will be one of a number of speakers at a conference to be held next month entitled “Pathways to Justice for Survivors of Institutional Child Abuse”. The conference will be held on Sept 19-20 at the University of Technology,…
THE PAISLEY SNAIL- WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?
The classic formulation of the duty of care by Lord Atkin in Donoghue v Stevenson includes a reference to Jesus’ famous parable of the Good Samaritan. Lord Atkin wrote: ‘The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law, you…