Bahá'í Faith in Australia
Encyclopedia
The Bahá'í Faith in Australia has a long history beginning with a mention by `Abdu'l-Bahá
, the son of the founder of the religion, in 1916 following which United Kingdom/American emigrants John and Clara Dunn came to Australia in 1920. They found people willing to convert to the Bahá'í Faith
in several cities while further immigrant Bahá'ís also arrived. The first Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in Melbourne
followed by the first election of the National Spiritual Assembly in 1934. Iranian Bahá'ís had first tried to emigrate to Australia in 1948 but were rejected as "Asiatic" by Australia's White Australia policy
. Though the situation was eased in the 1960s and 70s, on the eve of Iranian revolution
, in 1978, there were approximately 50-60 Persian Bahá'í families in Australia. Persians, including Bahá'ís, arrived in number following the revolution. See persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran
. Since the 1980s the Bahá'ís of Australia have become involved and spoken out on a number of civic issues - from interfaith initiative such as Soul Food to conferences on indigenous issues and national policies of equal rights and pay for work. The community was counted by census in 2001 to be about 11000 individuals and includes some well known people (see below - National exposure.) The Association of Religion Data Archives
(relying on World Christian Encyclopedia
) estimated some 17,700 Bahá'ís in 2005.
, to the followers of the religion in the United States in 1916-1917; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan
. The seventh and eighth of the tablets was the first to mention taking the Bahá'í Faith to Australia and was written on 11 and 19 April 1916, but was delayed in being presented in the United States until 1919 — after the end of World War I
and the Spanish flu
. These tablets were translated and presented by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
on 4 April 1919, and published in Star of the West magazine on 12 December 1919.
along the way. They were first Bahá'ís to set foot in Australia. In 1922 the first Australians joined the religion. They were Oswald Whitaker, a Sydney optometrist, and Effie Baker, a Melbourne
photographer who were members of different metaphysical groups. News of John Esslemont
's 1915 declaration of faith, and his forthcoming book Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, had also spread to some of his associates, William and Annie Miller in Australia who then became Bahá'ís in the 1920s. Melbourne Bahá'ís elected their first Local Spiritual Assembly, the first one of all Australia, in 1923 mostly from single or widowed women. The community struggled to maintain itself for a number of years. The second assembly of Australia was elected in Perth
in 1924. World traveling Martha Root
spoke at many public meetings on a visit to Melbourne in 1924 and again in 1939. In 1925 Effie Baker left other Australian converts as well as a contingent from New Zealand for trip on pilgrimage
where they stayed some 19 days and then visited with the community of the Bahá'í Faith in the United Kingdom
. The news journal Herald of the South was begun publishing for New Zealand and Australia during their voyage out of Auckland (transferred publishing to Adelaide Australia in 1931 and then carried on by the national assembly from about 1945.) The Dunns and Martha Root also visited Hobart
in Tasmania
during which Gretta Lamprill converted and continued to sustain the religion on the island - eventually she was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly and later was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh together with Glad Parke, who travelled with her to the Society Islands (now French Polynesia
) in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. During Roots subsequent visits each time the Bahá'í community grew in Tasmania.
Following a temporary move of Margaret Dixson to Sydney from Melbourne who helped elect the first local spiritual assembly of Sydney in 1925 (eventually Margaret Dixson, an early Esperantist
pioneered to Brisbane
, and Adelaide
.) While many of the early converts refused to stay Bahá'ís when pressed to leave their former associations many others did join the religion. By 1928 a list shows Australia with 6 local spiritual assemblies each with 9 members plus the general community.
was Australia's Margaret Rowling in early 1952. Lilian Wyss pioneered to Western Samoa from Australia in January 1954 leaving behind a position on the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia at the age of 24 while her brother, Frank Wyss, introduced the religion that year to the Cocos Island
. For their service, Shoghi Effendi awarded both of them the accolade of Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. In 1955 Fred Murray of South Australia was among the first Aboriginal people to become a Bahá'í. After decades of service in the Australian community, Collis Featherstone was distinguished by being appointed as a Hand of the Cause of God in 1957 (d.1990) and he and four other Hands were present at the first international conference hosted by the Australian Bahá'í community in March 1958 when almost 200 Bahá'ís from 17 Bahá'í communities gathered: Iran, Pakistan, (S) Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, Tonga, New Guinea, Papua, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Formosa, and the United States. Part of the ceremonies carried out was the dedication of the Temple site.
beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics. In 1937, one hundred delegates and observers attending the national Bahá'í convention in Sydney celebrated the founding of the Yerrinbool Bahá'í School which was next to "Bolton Place" founded just the year before. Kitchen and dining facilities were added in 1946. In 1947 non-Bahá'í speakers Harold Morton, a Sydney radio announcer, and Muslim Fazel (Frank) Khan presented at the school and the Khan family converted shortly thereafter. By 1963 the Yerrinbool Bahá'í School was wholly owned and managed by the National Spiritual Assembly. The second national youth conference was held at Yerrinbool in 1970 and succeeding youth conferences were held in Canberra
(1972), Adelaide (1973), Perth
(1974), Canberra (1975), Brisbane
(1976), Sydney (1977), Hobart (1978), and Melbourne (1979). In 1983 the schools program included summer, spring and autumn schools, three deepening institutes, an annual studies conference, a "Third World Awareness" weekend sponsored by the Sydney Bahá'í youth, Bahá'ís studies conferences sponsored by the University of Tasmania
Bahá'í Society which lead to the initial formation of the Association for Bahá'í Studies chapter in Australia whose first meeting was at Yerrinbool. More recently, Yerringbool Bahá'í School was formally registered as a not-for-profit college in Australia under the name of Yerringbool Bahá'í Center for Learning Ltd (YBCL) which operates two divisions of Education for Peace Institute of Australia, and Yerrinbool College.
in 1961. By 1978 there were Local Assemblies in Albert Shire, Brisbane, Gold Coast
, Mornington Island
and Palm Island
, Pioneer Shire, Redland Shire, Toowoomba and Townsville, as well as groups in Gympie
, Ipswich
, Mackay
, Mulgrave Shire, Murweh Shire, Noosa Shire, Rockhampton
Wondai Shire and Caboolture
in 1983. In 1987, local assemblies in Queensland numbered 25.
Refocussing attention on the Melbourne community active projects were initiated and the assembly was reformed in 1948. The members of that local spiritual assembly were Emily and Cyril Easey, Ron Cover and his mother Irene Cover, Freda Adams, Mrs E. Bennett, Madam Holden-Graham, Eleanor Wheeler, and Vi Hoehnke and by 1953 communities near Melbourne included Ballarat
and Geelong
however reorganizing along civic boundaries in 1957 spit the Melbourne community into Melbourne, Camberwell
, Malvern
, Caufield, Oakleigh
, Mordialic and Brighton
.
In an atmosphere of growing tension over war, in October 1940 Gretta Lamprill in Tasmania was visited by government officers seeking information about the group's activities and from then on the Bahá'ís consciously sought out collaboration with like-minded social movements and involved academics and outstanding public figures of the day in their public meetings. In 1945 the only group of Bahá'ís in Tasmania were in Hobart - consisting of six people. By 1949 the Hobart community was able to elect its local spiritual assembly with founding members of Frank & Myra Brown, Mabel Bailey, Kit Crowder, Eileen Costello, Katherine Harcus, Gretta Lamprill, Katie Pharaoh, and Ben Raynor. Shirin Fozdar visited Tasmania in September 1952 for several talks before going on to introduce the religion to Vietnam
in 1954. In 1958 the Hobart community hosted a Tasmanian Bahá'í conference with representatives from Launceston
, Clarence, and Glenorchy
in June 1957.
In 1982, the Canberra Bahá'í community was one of five communities asked by the Universal House of Justice to host a conference in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Bahiyyih Khánum
.
, characterized as a diaspora
. In 1981 the Minister for Immigration announced a Special Humanitarian Assistance Program for Iranians to seek refuge in Australia. By 1986, 538 Persian Bahá'ís had entered Australia under the program, and by 1988, some 2,500 had arrived in Australia through either the Assistance or Refugee Programs. Together with Persians already living in Australia, Persian constituted 38% of the Australian Bahá'í community where majorities of Iranians formed in 59 of 169 Bahá'í communities that had local assemblies, and in 19 Bahá'í communities, more than 75% of the members were Persian. See also Iranian Australian
s.
The Bahá'í House of Worship
in Sydney was dedicated on 17 September 1961 and opened to the public after four years of construction. The initial design by Charles Mason Remey
was approved in 1957 with seating for six hundred people. The building stands 38 metres in height, has a diameter at its widest point of 20 metres, and is a highly visible landmark from Sydney's northern beaches. It's surrounded by gardens contain native plants including waratahs
, several grevillea
including the unique caleyi
, Australian wattle (Acacia
) and woody pear, plus three species of eucalypts. Other buildings located on the site include a visitor's centre, bookshop, picnic area, hostel, caretaker's cottage, and the administrative offices of the Australian Bahá'í community. The property is set high in a natural bushland setting of 380,000 square metres (38 hectares) in Ingleside
, a northern suburb overlooking the Pacific Ocean. This Temple serves as the Mother Temple of Australia.
Six conferences held in October 1967 around the world presented a viewing of a copy of the photograph of Bahá'u'lláh
on the highly significant occasion commemorating the centenary of Bahá'u'lláh's writing of the Suriy-i-Mulúk (Tablet to the Kings), which Shoghi Effendi
describes as "the most momentous Tablet revealed by Bahá'u'lláh". After a meeting in Edirne (Adrianople), Turkey, the Hands of the Cause
travelled to the conferences, 'each bearing the precious trust of a photograph of the Blessed Beauty, which it will be the privilege of those attending the Conferences to view.' Hand of the Cause Ugo Giachery
conveyed this photograph to the Conference for Australasia at Australia at the House of Worship.
The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of Justice
dated 20 October 1983 was released. Bahá'ís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Bahá'í teachings
, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482.
For the International Year of Indigenous Peoples and the Australian Association for Baha'i Studies set their annual conference in 1993 (at Queensland University) on an Indigenous related theme on building a positive understanding of Native title
. In 1993 the Arrernte
tribe co-sponsors an intercultural celebration, Heart of Australia Calling. In 1997 the Association for Baha'i Studies produced a book Indigenous Peoples: In the Wake of Mabo as a followup (see Mabo v Queensland
.) In closing the UN International Decade of Indigenous Peoples (1993–2004) it held another conference (at Macquarie University
) but this time ensuring as great a level of participation by Indigenous participants and keynote speakers and as many female participants and keynote speakers as possible and other similar priorities in order that the views and needs of Indigenous Peoples could be seriously heard and discussed and of practical benefit.
In 2003 the Australian Bahá’í Community testified in support of Australian Human Rights Commission Legislation Bill of 2003 suggesting that reviews of its provisions should be considered in light of the Paris Principles
. In 2005 it testified to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission of Australia making suggestions on a variety of issues affecting the challenges to equal rights and work/employment and pay for work. In 2007 YWCA Australia's WomenSpeak Network submitted a paper to the Australian Government through the Federal Office for Women to delegations addressing the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
. Their statement mentions that most women’s groups didn't believe the role of men and boys in achieving gender equality caught the imagination of many of the organisations
involved in the WomenSpeak Network. They specified a notable exception of this position is of the Australian Bahá'í Community Office of Equality in that many men in the Bahá'í community play an active role in working towards gender equality.
, Tom Price
. He was musical director of the Sydney Bahá'í Temple Choir in Australia for 14 years and became well known in Australia when he produced and co-wrote the double-platinum Bad Habits
album by singer Billy Field
, which was the largest selling album in Australia in 1981. Price went on eventually to be director of the 420-voice choir and 90-piece symphony orchestra for the second Bahá'í World Congress
in New York in 1992 and many other notable events.In 1986 Jack Malardy and his wife, tribal leaders of the Karadjari, joined the religion. In the mid and late 1990s Cathy Freeman
added some awareness of the religion in Australia as an Aboriginal
Olympic medalist
who grew up as a Bahá'í. In 2001 the 2nd edition of A Practical Reference to Religious Diversity for Operational Police and Emergency Services
added the Bahá'í Faith in its coverage of religions in Australia. A TV medical-drama called MDA - Medical Defense Australia
, which went on the air on 23 July 2002 through 2005 with an ongoing Bahá'í character, Layla Young, played by a non-Bahá'í actress Petra Yared
. And Luke McPharlin
has been visible as a distinguished Australian footballer who mentioned his spiritual beliefs in his reasons for his sportsmanship.
(relying on World Christian Encyclopedia
) estimated some 17,700 Bahá'ís in 2005. The community of Whitehorse had some 200 Bahá'ís.
In 1998 Bahá'ís in the state of Victoria
celebrated their 75th anniversary and counted approximately 1600 adults, youth, and children, organised in more than 50 communities, with 29 local assemblies in the Melbourne metropolitan area with public events where hundreds of people come.
In 2008 the Tasmanian Bahá'í community neared the opening of its Bahá'í Center in Hobart with assemblies in Clarence
, Devonport
, Glenorchy
, Kingborough and Launceston
and more than 300 on the island.
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
, the son of the founder of the religion, in 1916 following which United Kingdom/American emigrants John and Clara Dunn came to Australia in 1920. They found people willing to convert to the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
in several cities while further immigrant Bahá'ís also arrived. The first Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
followed by the first election of the National Spiritual Assembly in 1934. Iranian Bahá'ís had first tried to emigrate to Australia in 1948 but were rejected as "Asiatic" by Australia's White Australia policy
White Australia policy
The White Australia policy comprises various historical policies that intentionally restricted "non-white" immigration to Australia. From origins at Federation in 1901, the polices were progressively dismantled between 1949-1973....
. Though the situation was eased in the 1960s and 70s, on the eve of Iranian revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
, in 1978, there were approximately 50-60 Persian Bahá'í families in Australia. Persians, including Bahá'ís, arrived in number following the revolution. See persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran
Persecution of Bahá'ís
The persecution of Bahá'ís is the religious persecution of Bahá'ís in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Bahá'í Faith originated and the location of one of the largest Bahá'í populations in the world...
. Since the 1980s the Bahá'ís of Australia have become involved and spoken out on a number of civic issues - from interfaith initiative such as Soul Food to conferences on indigenous issues and national policies of equal rights and pay for work. The community was counted by census in 2001 to be about 11000 individuals and includes some well known people (see below - National exposure.) The Association of Religion Data Archives
Association of religion data archives
The Association of Religion Data Archives is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997, and online since 1998, the archive was initially targeted at researchers interested in American religion...
(relying on World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia is a reference work published by Oxford University Press, known for providing membership statistics for major and minor world religions in every country of the world, including historical data and projections of future populations.The first edition, by David B. Barrett,...
) estimated some 17,700 Bahá'ís in 2005.
`Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan
`Abdu'l-Bahá wrote a series of letters, or tabletsTablet (religious)
A tablet, in the religious context, is a term traditionally used for religious texts.Jews and Christians believe that Moses brought the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai in the form of two stone tablets. According to the Book of Exodus, God delivered the tablets twice, the first set having been...
, to the followers of the religion in the United States in 1916-1917; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan
Tablets of the Divine Plan
The Tablets of the Divine Plan collectively refers to 14 letters written between September 1916 and March 1917 by `Abdu'l-Bahá to Bahá'ís in the United States and Canada. Included in multiple books, the first five tablets were printed in America in Star of the West - Vol. VII, No. 10, September 8,...
. The seventh and eighth of the tablets was the first to mention taking the Bahá'í Faith to Australia and was written on 11 and 19 April 1916, but was delayed in being presented in the United States until 1919 — after the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
. These tablets were translated and presented by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
Mírzá Aḥmad Sohráb was a Persian-American author and Bahá'í who co-founded the New History Society and the Caravan of East and West in New York, and was excommunicated from the Bahá'í Faith in 1939 by Shoghi Effendi.-Early life:...
on 4 April 1919, and published in Star of the West magazine on 12 December 1919.
(Tablet 7) "The moment this divine Message is carried forward by the American believers from the shores of America and is propagated through the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa and of Australasia, and as far as the islands of the Pacific, this community will find itself securely established upon the throne of an everlasting dominion..., if some teachers go to other islands and other parts, such as the continent of Australia, New Zealand, TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, also to Japan, Asiatic Russia, Korea, French IndochinaFrench IndochinaFrench Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
, Siam, Straits SettlementsStraits SettlementsThe Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867...
, India, Ceylon and AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, most great results will be forthcoming."
(Tablet 8) "The teachers traveling in different directions must know the language of the country in which they will enter.… In short, after this universal warWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the people have obtained extraordinary capacity to hearken to the divine teachings, for the wisdom of this war is this: That it may become proven to all that the fire of war is world-consuming, whereas the rays of peace are world-enlightening.… Consequently, a number of souls may arise and … and hasten to all parts of the world, especially from America to Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, and travel through Japan and China."
Establishment
In 1920 Englishman John Hyde Dunn, and his Irish wife, Clara, sailed to Australia from the United states where they each had emigrated, converted to the religion, met and married. They stopped briefly in SamoaSamoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
along the way. They were first Bahá'ís to set foot in Australia. In 1922 the first Australians joined the religion. They were Oswald Whitaker, a Sydney optometrist, and Effie Baker, a Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
photographer who were members of different metaphysical groups. News of John Esslemont
John Esslemont
John Ebenezer Esslemont M.B., Ch.B. , was a prominent British Bahá'í from Scotland. He was the author of the well-known introductory book on the Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, which is still in circulation. He was named posthumously by Shoghi Effendi as the first Hand of the Cause he...
's 1915 declaration of faith, and his forthcoming book Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, had also spread to some of his associates, William and Annie Miller in Australia who then became Bahá'ís in the 1920s. Melbourne Bahá'ís elected their first Local Spiritual Assembly, the first one of all Australia, in 1923 mostly from single or widowed women. The community struggled to maintain itself for a number of years. The second assembly of Australia was elected in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
in 1924. World traveling Martha Root
Martha Root
Martha Louise Root was a prominent traveling teacher of the Bahá'í Faith in the late 19th and early 20th century. Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith called her "the foremost travel teacher in the first Bahá'í Century", and named her a Hand of the Cause posthumously...
spoke at many public meetings on a visit to Melbourne in 1924 and again in 1939. In 1925 Effie Baker left other Australian converts as well as a contingent from New Zealand for trip on pilgrimage
Bahá'í pilgrimage
A Bahá'í pilgrimage currently consists of visiting the holy places in Haifa, Akká, and Bahjí at the Bahá'í World Centre in Northwest Israel. Bahá'ís do not have access to other places designated as sites for pilgrimage....
where they stayed some 19 days and then visited with the community of the Bahá'í Faith in the United Kingdom
Bahá'í Faith in the United Kingdom
The Bahá'í Faith in the United Kingdom started in 1898 when Mrs. Mary Thornburgh-Cropper , an American by birth, become the first Bahá'í in England. Through the 1930s, the number of Bahá'ís in the United Kingdom grew, leading to a pioneer movement beginning after the Second World War with sixty...
. The news journal Herald of the South was begun publishing for New Zealand and Australia during their voyage out of Auckland (transferred publishing to Adelaide Australia in 1931 and then carried on by the national assembly from about 1945.) The Dunns and Martha Root also visited Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
during which Gretta Lamprill converted and continued to sustain the religion on the island - eventually she was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly and later was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh together with Glad Parke, who travelled with her to the Society Islands (now French Polynesia
French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
) in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. During Roots subsequent visits each time the Bahá'í community grew in Tasmania.
Following a temporary move of Margaret Dixson to Sydney from Melbourne who helped elect the first local spiritual assembly of Sydney in 1925 (eventually Margaret Dixson, an early Esperantist
Esperantist
An Esperantist is a person who speaks or uses Esperanto. Etymologically, an Esperantist is someone who hopes...
pioneered to Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, and Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
.) While many of the early converts refused to stay Bahá'ís when pressed to leave their former associations many others did join the religion. By 1928 a list shows Australia with 6 local spiritual assemblies each with 9 members plus the general community.
Expansion
Soon Bahá'í groups sprang up around the country. By 1934 there were enough Bahá'ís to elect a national governing body, the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand. The delegates were: Robert Brown, Silver Jackman, Hilda Brooks; A.0. Whittaker, Hyde Dunn, Olive Routh; and from New Zealand Mrs. E. Axford, Ethel Blundell, and Margaret Stevenson. During the 1940s there was opposition published to the religion. The first secretary of the national assembly, Hilda Brooks, wrote many responses to various public attacks. For 6 weeks in 1943 the editor of the Mittagong Star entertained an exchange of letters to the editor between her and an Catholic priest and scholar who had chosen to describe the religion as an outgrowth of Islam. In 1945 she responded to remarks a former missionary to Iran, in Adelaide's Church Guardian. In 1957 New Zealand separated to form its own National Assembly. The National Assembly established the Bahá'í Quarterly publication in 1936. The first pioneer to reach New CaledoniaBahá'í Faith in New Caledonia
The Bahá'í Faith in New Caledonia was first mentioned by `Abdu'l-Bahá in 1916, though the first Bahá'í arrived in 1952 during a temporary visit because of restrictive policies on English-speaking visitors. In 1961 Jeannette Outhey was the first New Caledonian to join the religion and with other...
was Australia's Margaret Rowling in early 1952. Lilian Wyss pioneered to Western Samoa from Australia in January 1954 leaving behind a position on the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia at the age of 24 while her brother, Frank Wyss, introduced the religion that year to the Cocos Island
Cocos Island
Cocos Island is an uninhabited island located off the shore of Costa Rica . It constitutes the 11th district of Puntarenas Canton of the province of Puntarenas. It is one of the National Parks of Costa Rica...
. For their service, Shoghi Effendi awarded both of them the accolade of Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. In 1955 Fred Murray of South Australia was among the first Aboriginal people to become a Bahá'í. After decades of service in the Australian community, Collis Featherstone was distinguished by being appointed as a Hand of the Cause of God in 1957 (d.1990) and he and four other Hands were present at the first international conference hosted by the Australian Bahá'í community in March 1958 when almost 200 Bahá'ís from 17 Bahá'í communities gathered: Iran, Pakistan, (S) Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, Tonga, New Guinea, Papua, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Formosa, and the United States. Part of the ceremonies carried out was the dedication of the Temple site.
Yerrinbool Bahá'í School
Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic developmentSocio-economic development (Bahá'í)
Since its inception the Bahá'í Faith has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and...
beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics. In 1937, one hundred delegates and observers attending the national Bahá'í convention in Sydney celebrated the founding of the Yerrinbool Bahá'í School which was next to "Bolton Place" founded just the year before. Kitchen and dining facilities were added in 1946. In 1947 non-Bahá'í speakers Harold Morton, a Sydney radio announcer, and Muslim Fazel (Frank) Khan presented at the school and the Khan family converted shortly thereafter. By 1963 the Yerrinbool Bahá'í School was wholly owned and managed by the National Spiritual Assembly. The second national youth conference was held at Yerrinbool in 1970 and succeeding youth conferences were held in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
(1972), Adelaide (1973), Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
(1974), Canberra (1975), Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
(1976), Sydney (1977), Hobart (1978), and Melbourne (1979). In 1983 the schools program included summer, spring and autumn schools, three deepening institutes, an annual studies conference, a "Third World Awareness" weekend sponsored by the Sydney Bahá'í youth, Bahá'ís studies conferences sponsored by the University of Tasmania
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...
Bahá'í Society which lead to the initial formation of the Association for Bahá'í Studies chapter in Australia whose first meeting was at Yerrinbool. More recently, Yerringbool Bahá'í School was formally registered as a not-for-profit college in Australia under the name of Yerringbool Bahá'í Center for Learning Ltd (YBCL) which operates two divisions of Education for Peace Institute of Australia, and Yerrinbool College.
Development in other states
Bahá'ís in Brisbane were established as early as 1928 but it wasn't until 1949 that a local spiritual assembly was elected. A Baha’i Society was established on the campus of the University of QueenslandUniversity of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
in 1961. By 1978 there were Local Assemblies in Albert Shire, Brisbane, Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
, Mornington Island
Mornington Island
Mornington Island is the northern most of 22 islands that form the Wellesley Islands group. The island is located in the Gulf of Carpentaria at and is part of the Gulf Country region in the Australian state of Queensland. The Manowar and Rocky Islands Important Bird Area lies about 40 km to...
and Palm Island
Palm Island, Queensland
Palm Island is an Aboriginal community located on Great Palm Island, also called by the Aboriginal name "Bwgcolman", an island on the Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland, Australia The settlement is also known by a variety of other names including "the Mission", Palm Island Settlement or Palm...
, Pioneer Shire, Redland Shire, Toowoomba and Townsville, as well as groups in Gympie
Gympie
Gympie may refer to:* Gympie, a city in Queensland, Australia** Gympie Airport** Electoral district of Gympie** Gympie Region, its local government authority* Gympie Gympie , a stinging plant...
, Ipswich
Ipswich, Queensland
Ipswich is a city in South-East Queensland, Australia. Situated along the Bremer River Valley approximately 40 kilometres away from the state's capital Brisbane. The suburb by the same name forms the city's Central Business District and administrative centre...
, Mackay
Mackay, Queensland
Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....
, Mulgrave Shire, Murweh Shire, Noosa Shire, Rockhampton
Rockhampton, Queensland
Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....
Wondai Shire and Caboolture
Caboolture, Queensland
Caboolture is an urban centre approximately north of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. Caboolture is considered to be the northernmost urban area of the greater Brisbane metropolitan region within South East Queensland, and it marks the end of the Brisbane suburban commuter...
in 1983. In 1987, local assemblies in Queensland numbered 25.
Refocussing attention on the Melbourne community active projects were initiated and the assembly was reformed in 1948. The members of that local spiritual assembly were Emily and Cyril Easey, Ron Cover and his mother Irene Cover, Freda Adams, Mrs E. Bennett, Madam Holden-Graham, Eleanor Wheeler, and Vi Hoehnke and by 1953 communities near Melbourne included Ballarat
Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
and Geelong
Geelong, Victoria
Geelong is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia, south-west of the state capital; Melbourne. It is the second most populated city in Victoria and the fifth most populated non-capital city in Australia...
however reorganizing along civic boundaries in 1957 spit the Melbourne community into Melbourne, Camberwell
Camberwell, Victoria
Camberwell is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Camberwell had a population of 19,637....
, Malvern
Malvern, Victoria
Malvern is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Malvern had a population of 9,422.-History:...
, Caufield, Oakleigh
Oakleigh, Victoria
Oakleigh is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and is located 14 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Monash. At the 2006 Census, Oakleigh had a population of 6,876....
, Mordialic and Brighton
Brighton, Victoria
Brighton is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Brighton had a population of 20,651...
.
In an atmosphere of growing tension over war, in October 1940 Gretta Lamprill in Tasmania was visited by government officers seeking information about the group's activities and from then on the Bahá'ís consciously sought out collaboration with like-minded social movements and involved academics and outstanding public figures of the day in their public meetings. In 1945 the only group of Bahá'ís in Tasmania were in Hobart - consisting of six people. By 1949 the Hobart community was able to elect its local spiritual assembly with founding members of Frank & Myra Brown, Mabel Bailey, Kit Crowder, Eileen Costello, Katherine Harcus, Gretta Lamprill, Katie Pharaoh, and Ben Raynor. Shirin Fozdar visited Tasmania in September 1952 for several talks before going on to introduce the religion to Vietnam
Bahá'í Faith in Vietnam
The Bahá'í Faith in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam started in a late phase of the First Indochina War. The history of the development of the Bahá'í Faith in Vietnam would begin with its arrival out of India more than a century after its founding in Persia...
in 1954. In 1958 the Hobart community hosted a Tasmanian Bahá'í conference with representatives from Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
, Clarence, and Glenorchy
Glenorchy, Tasmania
Glenorchy is a business district and suburb in the northern part of greater Hobart, capital of the state of Tasmania, Australia. The land was originally used for agriculture but is now a largely suburban, working-class area...
in June 1957.
In 1982, the Canberra Bahá'í community was one of five communities asked by the Universal House of Justice to host a conference in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Bahiyyih Khánum
Bahiyyih Khánum
Bahíyyih Khánum the only daughter of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and Ásíyih Khánum. She was born in 1846 with the given name Fatimih Sultan, and was entitled "Varaqiy-i-'Ulyá" or "Greatest Holy Leaf"...
.
Iranian immigrants
In 1948, Iranian Bahá'ís seeking to emigrate to Australia were classified as "Asiatic" by Australia's White Australia policy, and were denied entry and the policy largely remained in place until the 1960s and was lifted in 1973. The size and diversity of the community was boosted in the 1980s when Australia opened its doors to those fleeing the resurgence of persecution of Bahá'ís in IranPersecution of Bahá'ís
The persecution of Bahá'ís is the religious persecution of Bahá'ís in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Bahá'í Faith originated and the location of one of the largest Bahá'í populations in the world...
, characterized as a diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
. In 1981 the Minister for Immigration announced a Special Humanitarian Assistance Program for Iranians to seek refuge in Australia. By 1986, 538 Persian Bahá'ís had entered Australia under the program, and by 1988, some 2,500 had arrived in Australia through either the Assistance or Refugee Programs. Together with Persians already living in Australia, Persian constituted 38% of the Australian Bahá'í community where majorities of Iranians formed in 59 of 169 Bahá'í communities that had local assemblies, and in 19 Bahá'í communities, more than 75% of the members were Persian. See also Iranian Australian
Iranian Australian
Iranian Australians are people of Iranian origin residing in Australia. They include expatriates in exile as well as permanent immigrants and their descendants.-History:...
s.
Bahá'í House of Worship
Bahá'í House of Worship
A Bahá'í House of Worship, sometimes referred to by its Arabic name of Mashriqu'l-Adhkár ,is the designation of a place of worship, or temple, of the Bahá'í Faith...
in Sydney was dedicated on 17 September 1961 and opened to the public after four years of construction. The initial design by Charles Mason Remey
Mason Remey
Charles Mason Remey was a prominent and controversial American Bahá'í who was appointed in 1951 a Hand of the Cause, and president of the International Bahá'í Council...
was approved in 1957 with seating for six hundred people. The building stands 38 metres in height, has a diameter at its widest point of 20 metres, and is a highly visible landmark from Sydney's northern beaches. It's surrounded by gardens contain native plants including waratahs
Telopea speciosissima
Telopea speciosissima, commonly known as the New South Wales waratah or simply waratah, is a large shrub in the plant family Proteaceae. It is endemic to New South Wales in Australia and is the floral emblem of that state...
, several grevillea
Grevillea
Grevillea is a diverse genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the protea family Proteaceae, native to Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Sulawesi. It was named in honour of Charles Francis Greville. The species range from prostrate shrubs less than 0.5 m tall to trees...
including the unique caleyi
Grevillea caleyi
Grevillea caleyi, also known as Caley's Grevillea, is a shrub which is endemic to Australia. It grows up to 4 metres in height and flowers between August and December in its native range. Flowers have a fawn perianth and maroon or red styles with green tips...
, Australian wattle (Acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
) and woody pear, plus three species of eucalypts. Other buildings located on the site include a visitor's centre, bookshop, picnic area, hostel, caretaker's cottage, and the administrative offices of the Australian Bahá'í community. The property is set high in a natural bushland setting of 380,000 square metres (38 hectares) in Ingleside
Ingleside, New South Wales
Ingleside is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Ingleside is located 28 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Pittwater Council and Warringah Council. Ingleside is part of the Northern Beaches region, about...
, a northern suburb overlooking the Pacific Ocean. This Temple serves as the Mother Temple of Australia.
Six conferences held in October 1967 around the world presented a viewing of a copy of the photograph of Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...
on the highly significant occasion commemorating the centenary of Bahá'u'lláh's writing of the Suriy-i-Mulúk (Tablet to the Kings), which Shoghi Effendi
Shoghi Effendi
Shoghí Effendí Rabbání , better known as Shoghi Effendi, was the Guardian and appointed head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957...
describes as "the most momentous Tablet revealed by Bahá'u'lláh". After a meeting in Edirne (Adrianople), Turkey, the Hands of the Cause
Hands of the Cause
The Hands of the Cause of God, Hands of the Cause, or Hands were a select group of Bahá'ís, appointed for life, whose main function was to propagate and protect the Bahá'í Faith...
travelled to the conferences, 'each bearing the precious trust of a photograph of the Blessed Beauty, which it will be the privilege of those attending the Conferences to view.' Hand of the Cause Ugo Giachery
Ugo Giachery
Ugo Giachery was a prominent Italian Bahá'í from an aristocratic family from Palermo. At an anniversary of the founding of the spiritual assembly of Perugia Giachery told the story of how, as a young wounded soldier, still ignorant of the Bahá'í Faith, he was in Perugia in 1916...
conveyed this photograph to the Conference for Australasia at Australia at the House of Worship.
Multiplying interests
The Bahá'ís of Australia have taken up efforts in a number of interests - internal and with respect to the civic discourse in Australia. In 1975 the Australian Bahá'í Publishing Trust was established and in 1984 the Australian branch of the Association of Bahá'í Studies was formed. Representing the religion to the broader public the Bahá'ís developed a voluntary program in Australian public/state schools for 30 minutes a week on religious classes (called Special Religious Education, open to all religions.) The Bahá'ís developed a Peace Pack that was approved by the State's Department of Education and Training starting in the 1980s. Some 6,000 primary school children, about 10% of Bahá'í families, among more than 300 state-run schools attended in 2007. And informally since 2002 the Bahá'ís of Adelaide, (and formally since 2003 by the Adelaide Local Spiritual Assembly) has run the Soul Food event - a once a month 1 hour program of readings from religious and non-religious texts mixed with music performed by a variety of Adelaide’s professional musicians in the Art Gallery of South Australia’s Auditorium during which no financial contribution is asked for or accepted and no promotions are permitted. The event has since developed similar events in other locations in Australia.The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of Justice
Universal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
dated 20 October 1983 was released. Bahá'ís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Bahá'í teachings
Bahá'í teachings
The Bahá'í teachings represent a considerable number of theological, social, and spiritual ideas that were established in the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion, and clarified by successive leaders including `Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh's son, and Shoghi Effendi, `Abdu'l-Bahá's...
, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482.
For the International Year of Indigenous Peoples and the Australian Association for Baha'i Studies set their annual conference in 1993 (at Queensland University) on an Indigenous related theme on building a positive understanding of Native title
Native title
Native title is the Australian version of the common law doctrine of aboriginal title.Native title is "the recognition by Australian law that some Indigenous people have rights and interests to their land that come from their traditional laws and customs"...
. In 1993 the Arrernte
Arrernte people
The Arrernte people , known in English as the Aranda or Arunta, are those Indigenous Australians who are the original custodians of Arrernte lands in the central area of Australia around Mparntwe or Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The Arrernte tribe has lived there for more than 20,000 years...
tribe co-sponsors an intercultural celebration, Heart of Australia Calling. In 1997 the Association for Baha'i Studies produced a book Indigenous Peoples: In the Wake of Mabo as a followup (see Mabo v Queensland
Mabo v Queensland
Mabo v Queensland was a landmark High Court of Australia decision recognising native title in Australia for the first time...
.) In closing the UN International Decade of Indigenous Peoples (1993–2004) it held another conference (at Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
) but this time ensuring as great a level of participation by Indigenous participants and keynote speakers and as many female participants and keynote speakers as possible and other similar priorities in order that the views and needs of Indigenous Peoples could be seriously heard and discussed and of practical benefit.
In 2003 the Australian Bahá’í Community testified in support of Australian Human Rights Commission Legislation Bill of 2003 suggesting that reviews of its provisions should be considered in light of the Paris Principles
Paris Principles
The Paris Principles were defined at the first International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights held in Paris on 7-9 October 1991. They were adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Commission by Resolution 1992/54 of 1992, and by the UN General...
. In 2005 it testified to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission of Australia making suggestions on a variety of issues affecting the challenges to equal rights and work/employment and pay for work. In 2007 YWCA Australia's WomenSpeak Network submitted a paper to the Australian Government through the Federal Office for Women to delegations addressing the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
The Commission on the Status of Women is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council , one of the main UN organs within the United Nations.Every year, representatives of Member States gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress on gender...
. Their statement mentions that most women’s groups didn't believe the role of men and boys in achieving gender equality caught the imagination of many of the organisations
involved in the WomenSpeak Network. They specified a notable exception of this position is of the Australian Bahá'í Community Office of Equality in that many men in the Bahá'í community play an active role in working towards gender equality.
National exposure
From the 1980s onward various personalities associated with the Bahá'í Faith have been national figures in Australia. Combined with the swelling membership the religion has emerged from obscurity in Australia on national level. The first mark of this emergence is probably graduate of the University of SydneyUniversity of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
, Tom Price
Tom Price (musician)
Tom Price, , is an American songwriter, conductor, and musical director best known for his work in choral and orchestral music.-Biography:...
. He was musical director of the Sydney Bahá'í Temple Choir in Australia for 14 years and became well known in Australia when he produced and co-wrote the double-platinum Bad Habits
Bad Habits (Billy Field album)
Bad Habits was an album released by Australian artist Billy Field in 1981. It spent 2 weeks at the top of the Australian album charts in 1981.-Side one:#"Bad Habits" - 3:26#"Good Golly Me" - 2:58#"You Weren't in Love With Me" - 3:24...
album by singer Billy Field
Billy Field
Billy Field is an Australian singer and songwriter, best known for his hit singles "True Love" , "Bad Habits" and "You Weren't In Love with Me" . "You Weren't In Love with Me" also peaked at #67 on the UK Singles Chart in June 1982...
, which was the largest selling album in Australia in 1981. Price went on eventually to be director of the 420-voice choir and 90-piece symphony orchestra for the second Bahá'í World Congress
Bahá'í World Congress
The Bahá'í World Congress is a large gathering of Bahá'ís from across the world that is called irregularly by the Universal House of Justice, the governing body of the Bahá'ís...
in New York in 1992 and many other notable events.In 1986 Jack Malardy and his wife, tribal leaders of the Karadjari, joined the religion. In the mid and late 1990s Cathy Freeman
Cathy Freeman
Catherine Astrid Salome "Cathy" Freeman, OAM is former Australian sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics, at which she lit the Olympic Flame.Freeman was the first ever Aboriginal...
added some awareness of the religion in Australia as an Aboriginal
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
Olympic medalist
Olympic medalist
An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal: gold, silver and bronze. The winner is awarded the gold medal, the runner-up the silver medal, and the third place competitor is awarded the bronze medal...
who grew up as a Bahá'í. In 2001 the 2nd edition of A Practical Reference to Religious Diversity for Operational Police and Emergency Services
A Practical Reference to Religious Diversity for Operational Police and Emergency Services
A Practical Reference to Religious Diversity for Operational Police and Emergency Services is a publication of Australasian Police Multicultural Advisory Bureau designed to offer guidance to police and emergency services personnel on how religious affiliation can affect their contact with the...
added the Bahá'í Faith in its coverage of religions in Australia. A TV medical-drama called MDA - Medical Defense Australia
MDA (TV series)
MDA is an Australian television series that aired between 2002 and 2005 on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . It concerned the day-to-day operation of legal firm MDA, which specialised in medical defence.-Synopsis:...
, which went on the air on 23 July 2002 through 2005 with an ongoing Bahá'í character, Layla Young, played by a non-Bahá'í actress Petra Yared
Petra Yared
Petra Yared, born 18 January 1979 in Melbourne, is an Australian actress. She is often credited as Petra Jared.- Biography :Yared began her career in children's television series including Sky Trackers and The Genie From Down Under 2....
. And Luke McPharlin
Luke McPharlin
Luke McPharlin is an Australian rules football player for the Fremantle Football Club. McPharlin was educated at Christ Church Grammar School, graduating in 1999. McPharlin is both a key back and a key forward....
has been visible as a distinguished Australian footballer who mentioned his spiritual beliefs in his reasons for his sportsmanship.
Demographics
The 1996 Australian Census lists Bahá'í membership at just under 9 thousand Bahá'ís and in 2001 edition noted the community had grown to over 11 thousand. The Association of Religion Data ArchivesAssociation of religion data archives
The Association of Religion Data Archives is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997, and online since 1998, the archive was initially targeted at researchers interested in American religion...
(relying on World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia is a reference work published by Oxford University Press, known for providing membership statistics for major and minor world religions in every country of the world, including historical data and projections of future populations.The first edition, by David B. Barrett,...
) estimated some 17,700 Bahá'ís in 2005. The community of Whitehorse had some 200 Bahá'ís.
In 1998 Bahá'ís in the state of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
celebrated their 75th anniversary and counted approximately 1600 adults, youth, and children, organised in more than 50 communities, with 29 local assemblies in the Melbourne metropolitan area with public events where hundreds of people come.
In 2008 the Tasmanian Bahá'í community neared the opening of its Bahá'í Center in Hobart with assemblies in Clarence
Clarence, Tasmania
The City of Clarence is a city and Local Government Area in Tasmania, Australia. Along with Hobart and Glenorchy, Clarence is one of the three cities that constitute the Greater Hobart Area....
, Devonport
Devonport, Tasmania
-Sport:The Devonport Football Club is an Australian Rules team competing in the Tasmanian Statewide League. The Devonport Rugby Club is a Rugby Union team competing in the Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide League...
, Glenorchy
Glenorchy, Tasmania
Glenorchy is a business district and suburb in the northern part of greater Hobart, capital of the state of Tasmania, Australia. The land was originally used for agriculture but is now a largely suburban, working-class area...
, Kingborough and Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
and more than 300 on the island.
See also
- Religion in AustraliaReligion in AustraliaIn the 21st century, religion in Australia is demographically dominated by Christianity, with 64% of the population claiming at least nominal adherence to the Christian faith as of 2007, although less than a quarter of those attend church weekly. 18.7% of Australians declared "no-religion" on the...
- Bahá'í Faith in New ZealandBahá'í Faith in New ZealandWhile the first mention of the Bahá'í Faith in New Zealand was in 1853 continuous contact began around 1904 when one individual after another came in contact with Bahá'ís and some of them published articles in print media in New Zealand as early as 1908. The first Bahá'í in the Antipodes was...
- Bahá'í statisticsBahá'í statisticsStatistical estimates of the worldwide Bahá'í population are difficult to judge. The religion is almost entirely contained in a single, organized, hierarchical community, but the Bahá'í population is spread out into almost every country and ethnicity in the world, being recognized as the...
- List of religious populations
Publications
- Letters from the Guardian to Australia and New Zealand Author: Shoghi Effendi, Source: Australia, 1971 reprint.
- Arohanui: Letters from Shoghi Effendi to New Zealand Author: Shoghi Effendi Source: Bahá’í Publishing Trust of Suva, Fiji Islands, 1982 edition.
- The History of the Bahá'í Faith in Australia (flash video)
External links
- Official Webpage
- Soul Food, initiative of the Baha'i Communities of South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.
- Yerringbool Bahá'í Center of Learning (formerly Yerringbool Bahá'í School)
- Australian Bahá'í Youth online portal.
- University of Melbourne Baha'i Society
- University of Wollongong Baha'i Society