The High Court of Australia has handed down a significant decision on the law of “vicarious liability”, ruling that a church body is not automatically liable for sexual assault carried out by priests or ministers, where those persons are not employed by the church. In Bird v DP (a pseudonym) [2024] HCA 41 (13 November…

Applying the “calculus” of negligence spelled out in Wyong Shire Council v Shirt (1980) 146 CLR 40, this paper aims to show that the reasonable person will carefully investigate the claims of Jesus Christ:

THE CALCULUS OF CHRISTIANITY Oct 30 2024Download

For those who are in or can make it to Newcastle, I am speaking at a breakfast seminar on Wednesday Oct 30 (7:30-8:30 am) in the Newcastle CBD (Nuspace, the Uni city campus) x703. The topic is “The Calculus of Christianity”! Here is what it is about:

Both professionally and personally, we are constantly making…

I encourage everyone interested in law and religion issues to read this challenging piece published on the Australian Broadcasting Commission website from Emeritus Professor Patrick Parkinson: “Christian sexual ethics and the abuse of adolescents: Lessons from the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle” (24 September 2024). Professor Parkinson provides some comments on the excellent recent…

In his decision in Tickle v Giggle for Girls Pty Ltd (No 2) [2024] FCA 960 (23 August 2024) Bromwich J in the Federal Court of Australia found that the company Giggle had been guilty of indirect gender identity discrimination when its director, Sall Grover (who was also sued), had removed Roxy Tickle from her…

On behalf of the organisers, I am happy to post (for academic, and academically inclined, readers!) a call for papers for a symposium to be held in Queensland in February 2025.

5th Annual Theology and Jurisprudence Symposium

School of Law,  Queensland University of Technology, Gardens Point Campus

Friday 14 February 2025

THEME:

This annual symposium focuses on…

Freedom for Faith is hosting the FREEDOM24 Conference 9am-4pm on Monday August 5th at Village Church Annandale in Sydney. I highly recommend this conference!

Livestream tickets are free, to maximise access for those who cannot attend in person.

FREEDOM24 conference will develop your understanding of threats to religious freedom in Australia from historical, theological and policy perspectives.

Historian…