ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by surveying historical turning points in the history of Australian religiosity before situating subsequent changes within a background of wider social transformations that were manifesting globally in the 1960s after the two world wars and the Vietnam War. A combination of external and internal factors and influences contributed significantly to changes in Australian religious affiliations. The chapter explores the features of these realignments and reconfigurations of religious beliefs which inform on contemporary Australian religiosity. Australia has undergone great cultural and religious diversification through periods of significant mass migration in its history. Despite Christianity’s gradually decreasing social influence, religion was suddenly thrust into the public eye with greater visibility after 9/11. Negative media portrayals of Muslims, which existed before 9/11, were intensified after the world watched in horror as the Twin Towers collapsed on live television. Radical Islam came to be depicted on news media as illustrative of broader Muslim beliefs and practices.
