Constituting Religion After Williams: The False Dichotomy of Theocracy and Secularism

Abstract

In 2012, the High Court issued a landmark opinion in Williams v Commonwealth. For the first time in Australian history, and contrary to common assumption, the Executive branch was held to be constitutionally incapable of funding new programs in the absence of an enabling statute. The decision had ramifications for hundreds of spending programs and led to emergency legislation hastily passing through Parliament in an attempt to cure the defect identified in the case. The USQ School of Law’s After Williams Colloquium will be a forum for scholarly analysis of the decision, its immediate aftermath, and the future of legislative and executive power in Australia. In addition, the colloquium will deal with the church and state and religious freedom implications of Williams, especially in the context of publicly-funded school chaplains. An invitation is made for contributions on all aspects of the decision.