Religion and Australian socio-legal interaction: A preliminary account of the need for empirical research

Abstract

Investigations of two trends in the Australian content, one, wherein individuals make decisions as part of social interaction founded ostensibly on secular political and legal principles, which are in fact grounded in religious values; and second, the influence of religious values on individual decisions is overlooked by universities, the societal institutions best placed to study that process, are discussed. The need for Australian legal academy to direct its focus away from the well-worn liberal debate about religion and legal change and to a more fruitful normative theorizing that takes better or greater account of religion/spirituality as part of the solutions sought by Australians to ongoing social, political and economic concerns is highlighted.