ISCAST and Freedom for Faith are holding a one-day conference on religious freedom in Melbourne on Saturday 31 October. It runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Thomas Carr Centre at Catholic Theological College in East Melbourne, and will also be livestreamed.
The day is designed to help Christians understand the pressures emerging around public debate, online speech, gender and sexuality, religious expression and the law, and to think carefully about how to respond.
Speakers will include:
Nick Spencer, senior fellow at UK think tank Theos, will examine how secularism and liberalism can be used to exclude religious voices from public debate – and how Christians can make the case for religious freedom in a genuinely plural society.
Margaret Chambers, research fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs, will look at the proposed Digital Duty of Care and the risks it poses for lawful religious speech online.
The Hon Christopher Beale KC, former Victorian Supreme Court justice, will examine gender theory, law and the challenges they present for Christians and Christian organisations.
Mark Sneddon, lawyer and Freedom for Faith board member, will look at growing legal restrictions on religious expression, including conversion practices and vilification laws.
Mike Southon, executive director of Freedom for Faith, will give an update on the major religious freedom issues currently before us and opportunities for political engagement in Victoria ahead of the state election.
The day will conclude with a panel chaired by ISCAST executive director Chris Mulherin.
A week later, Nick Spencer will open ISCAST’s 2026 Conference on Science and Christianity with Peter Harrison at a public lecture on Friday 6 November.
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