For more than a decade, the international and national literature has established that sexuality education does not adequately speak to the broad range of cultural and religious diversities present in classrooms. These persistent obfuscations speak to long-standing questions around normativity, Othering and 'inclusion'. In this paper, we turn to a…

The role of nuns in the Catholic church as carers and caregivers has been given scant attention. This paper narrates a historical contextualised tale of an ethic of care, caregiving and caring. Interview data were drawn from a qualitative study of four Catholic nuns. Interviews were informal and conversational, with participants asked to reflect…

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia has exposed social fault-lines and inequities not often recognised in such an affluent country. This study explores the relevance of Bible stories about plagues and disasters for the work of preachers, teachers, and pastoral practitioners who were independent voluntary contributors to this study.…

Religious bigotry, including incidents of discrimination and violence based on religion, continues to rise across Australia. Religion is consequently considered a destabilising factor in Australia's commitment to diversity. But does Australia's religious diversity pose a threat to social cohesion or an opportunity? In Australia's public schools,…

This paper examines the religiosity, sexuality, and attitudes towards same-sex relationships among young people who were students at religiously affiliated schools in Australia and the staff who work in these schools, drawing on a national representative survey. It demonstrates that students are increasingly nonreligious, and accepting of…

Health education, research, and training rely on the altruistic act of body donation for the supply of cadavers. Organ transplantation and research rely on donated organs. Supply of both is limited, with further restrictions in Australia due to requirements for a next-of-kin agreement to donation, irrespective of the deceased's pre-death consent.…

This paper outlines the development of a new Indigenous research methodology: Indigenous Literature Re-view Methodology (ILRM). In the rejection of the idea that Western, dominant forms of research 'about' Indigenous peoples are most valid, ILRM was developed with aims to research in ways that give greater emphasis to Indigenous voices and…

This article argues that interreligious dialogue, learning and literacy involve more than enabling the communication of information about diverse religious groups. Effective pedagogies in interreligious contexts equip learners with an awareness of and potentially the capacity to engage with the spiritual realities to which the traditions adhere.…

Definitions of 'religious freedom' around schools' treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and asexual (LGBTIQA+) students have been regularly debated internationally, with little input from LGBTIQA+ students. Transformative theories of religious freedom around sex, gender and sexuality in education suggest religious…

Large-scale population studies surveying young people in relation to their worldviews have tended to frame their identities in a fixed and limited capacity while also treating the topics of religion/spirituality and sexuality/gender as discrete categories of scholarly analysis. We highlight the affordances and limitations of foregrounding fixed…

Transplanting non-Western religions to Western nations results in first-generation migrant attempts to transmit faith in vastly different contexts. Especially as adolescents, second-generation migrants tackle mediating their personal religious beliefs in a society with diverse religions and ideologies as well as negotiating membership of their…

Thinking sexuality education and religion together often results in antagonisms that pit religious and secular values against each other. Political theology provides new insights into this tendency by showing how modern concepts of political legitimacy are based on secularised Christian theology. Neoliberal schooling, public sexual health and…

Understanding students' perceptions of Christian education is essential for schools seeking to make changes that enhance opportunities for students to understand and engage with Christian faith. This study introduces and describes the validation of an accessible survey that probes students' perceptions of the Christian culture of their school and…

This paper examines the approaches of cultural and religious inclusion at one small state-funded primary school situated in suburban Australia. The school community is experiencing high levels of racialised, gendered and religious conflict. Through case study data from leaders and teachers, we illustrate the potential and limitations of these…

Finding Common Ground (FCG) is an inter-belief dialogue program hosted in the Multi Faith Facility of Swinburne University of Technology. FCG is a voluntary program that offers Swinburne students a safe space to discuss their religious faith, or alternative value base, and to learn from those of others. Two iterations of this program were…