RELIGIONS
Bahá'í
The Baha'i Faith is an independent world religion that was founded in 1844 and has been present in Australia since 1920. The Faith's central theme is that humanity is one family and the time has come for its unification into a peaceful global society.
Baha'is Believe
The universe and all creatures and forces within it have been created by a single supernatural Being.
All humanity is one family.
All of us, as creations of one God, are part of one human family, with no superior race, nation, ethnic or cultural group.
Full equality and a firm sense of partnership between women and men are essential to human progress and the transformation of society.
The fundamental obligation of human beings is to acquire knowledge and to "see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others".
Economic justice and prosperity will come about only when the essential connection between the spiritual and practical aspects of life is recognised.
God has revealed Himself throughout history by a succession of Divine Messengers, the Founders of the world religions, Whose purpose is to guide and educate humanity.
Australian Baha’is come from a variety of national, ethnic and occupational backgrounds.
Many Australians are attracted by the inspiring spirituality of Baha'is Faith, its vision of a global civilisation and its participatory and inclusive organisation. They want to fulfil their own potential and play their part in building a better world.
HISTORY
The Australian Baha’i community has its roots in the dedication of a small group of people nearly a century ago.
In 1920, Englishman John Henry Hyde Dunn, and his English-Irish wife, Clara, arrived in Australia from the United States, where they had both emigrated. They were the first Baha’is to settle in this country.
In 1922 the first Australians joined the Faith. They were Oswald Whitaker, a Sydney optometrist, and Effie Baker, a Melbourne photographer.
In 1955 Fred Murray of South Australia was among the first Aboriginal people to become a Baha’i.
Many Australians now encounter the Australian Baha’i Community through the services they offer in neighbourhoods and other grassroots activities in many parts of Australia.
BAHA'IS IN AUSTRALIA
There are Baha'is living in all parts of Australia.
New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia
BEING A BAHA'I
The Sydney Baha'i Temple is situated in Ingleside, on the northern beaches peninsula. This temple is only one of 8 in the world.
Many Australians are attracted by the inspiring spirituality of Baha'is Faith, its vision of a global civilisation and its participatory and inclusive organisation. They want to fulfil their own potential and play their part in building a better world.
HISTORY
The Australian Baha’i community has its roots in the dedication of a small group of people nearly a century ago.
In 1920, Englishman John Henry Hyde Dunn, and his English-Irish wife, Clara, arrived in Australia from the United States, where they had both emigrated. They were the first Baha’is to settle in this country.
In 1922 the first Australians joined the Faith. They were Oswald Whitaker, a Sydney optometrist, and Effie Baker, a Melbourne photographer.
In 1955 Fred Murray of South Australia was among the first Aboriginal people to become a Baha’i.
Many Australians now encounter the Australian Baha’i Community through the services they offer in neighbourhoods and other grassroots activities in many parts of Australia.
BAHA'IS IN AUSTRALIA
There are Baha'is living in all parts of Australia.
New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia
BEING A BAHA'I
Being part of the Baha'i community provides they with opportunities to meet and develop friendships with people from many different backgrounds.
Building and maintaining unity is very important to Baha’is. They strive to bring their lives in line with their belief in the oneness of humanity and to apply that in their families, their neighbourhoods, their workplaces, their communities, their nation and their world.
The Feast
Every 19 days Baha’is across Australia get together in their local area for an event called the "Nineteen Day Feast," or simply "the Feast."
It is the centrepiece of Baha'i community life.
Holy days
They commemorate 11 Baha'i holy days each year. These occasions are usually marked with community gatherings for prayer, reflection and fellowship.
A Local Spiritual Assembly is elected annually in every local government area where there are nine or more adult Baha'is. In Australia there are about 200 Local Spiritual Assemblies in rural, regional and urban areas across the country.
The members of the National Spiritual Assembly, the nine-member national governing council in Australia, are elected every year at the National Baha'i Convention by elected local community delegates from around Australia.
Funds
All activities in the Baha’i community are supported by the voluntary contributions of Baha’is.
Funds from private, national, or international agencies are sometimes received for social and humanitarian initiatives, such as schools and agricultural projects designed to serve the community at large.
Baha'i House of Worship - Sydney, Australia
The Sydney Baha'i Temple is situated in Ingleside, on the northern beaches peninsula. This temple is only one of 8 in the world.(Marc Prior)
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT AUSTRALIA
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
The Queen resides in the United Kingdom, and she is represented by her viceroys in Australia, (the Governor-General at the federal level and by the Governors at the state level), who by convention act on the advice of her ministers.
Supereme executive authority is vested by the constitution of Australia in the sovereign, but the power to exercise it is conferred by the constitution specifically to the Governor-General.
The most notable exercise of the Governor-General's reserve powers outside a Prime Minister's request was the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975.
The federal government is separated into three branches:
The country was ranked second in the United Nations 2009 Human Development Index, first in Legatum's 2008 Prosperity Index, and sixth in The Economist worldwide Quality-of-Life Index for 2005.
All of Australia's major cities fare well in global comparative liveability surveys;Melbourne reached second place on The Economist's 2008 World's Most Livable Cities list, followed by Perth, Adelaide, and Sydney in fourth, seventh and ninth place respectively.
Demography
Most of the estimated 22 million Australians are descended from colonial-era settlers and post-Federation immigrants from Europe, with almost 90% of the population being of European descent.
For generations, the vast majority of immigrants came from the British Isles, and the people of Australia are still mainly of British or Irish ethnic origin. In the 2006 Australian census, the most commonly nominated ancestry was Australian (37.13%),followed by English (31.65%), Irish (9.08%), Scottish (7.56%), Italian (4.29%), German (4.09%), Chinese (3.37%), and Greek (1.84%).
Language
Although Australia has no official language, English is so entrenched that it has become the de facto national language.
Australian English is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon. Grammar and spelling are similar to that of British English with some notable exceptions.
According to the 2006 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for close to 79% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Italian (1.6%), Greek (1.3%) and Cantonese (1.2%); a considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual.
Between 200 and 300 Indigenous Australian languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact, of which only about 70 have survived.
Many of these are exclusively spoken by older people; only 18 Indigenous languages are still spoken by all age groups. At the time of the 2006 Census, 52,000 Indigenous Australians, representing 12% of the Indigenous population, reported that they spoke an Indigenous language at home.
Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 5,500 deaf people.
(Marc Prior)
POLITICS
Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a federal division of powers. It uses a parliamentary system of government with Queen Elizabeth II at its apex as the Queen of Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as monarch of the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen resides in the United Kingdom, and she is represented by her viceroys in Australia, (the Governor-General at the federal level and by the Governors at the state level), who by convention act on the advice of her ministers.
Supereme executive authority is vested by the constitution of Australia in the sovereign, but the power to exercise it is conferred by the constitution specifically to the Governor-General.
The most notable exercise of the Governor-General's reserve powers outside a Prime Minister's request was the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975.
The federal government is separated into three branches:
- The legislature: the bicameral Parliament, comprising the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate, and the House of Representatives;
- The executive: the Federal Executive Council, in practice the Governor-General as advised by the Prime Minister and Ministers of State;
- The judiciary: the High Court of Australia and other federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Governor-General on advice of the Council.
States and territories
Australia has six states—New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia—and two major mainland territories—the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). In most respects these two territories function as states, but the Commonwealth Parliament can override any legislation of their parliaments.
Environment
Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, it includes a diverse range of habitats from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests, and is recognised as a megadiverse country.
Because of the continent's great age, extremely variable weather patterns, and long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia's biota is unique and diverse. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic.Australia has the greatest number of reptiles of any country, with 755 species.
Economy
Australia has a free-market economy with high GDP per capita and low rate of poverty. The Australian dollar is the currency for the nation, including Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu.
After the 2006 merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange is now the ninth largest in the world.
Ranked third in the Index of Economic Freedom (2010), Australia is the world's thirteenth largest economy and has the ninth highest per capita GDP; higher than that of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Japan, and the United States. The country was ranked second in the United Nations 2009 Human Development Index, first in Legatum's 2008 Prosperity Index, and sixth in The Economist worldwide Quality-of-Life Index for 2005.
All of Australia's major cities fare well in global comparative liveability surveys;Melbourne reached second place on The Economist's 2008 World's Most Livable Cities list, followed by Perth, Adelaide, and Sydney in fourth, seventh and ninth place respectively.
Demography
Most of the estimated 22 million Australians are descended from colonial-era settlers and post-Federation immigrants from Europe, with almost 90% of the population being of European descent.
For generations, the vast majority of immigrants came from the British Isles, and the people of Australia are still mainly of British or Irish ethnic origin. In the 2006 Australian census, the most commonly nominated ancestry was Australian (37.13%),followed by English (31.65%), Irish (9.08%), Scottish (7.56%), Italian (4.29%), German (4.09%), Chinese (3.37%), and Greek (1.84%).
Language
Although Australia has no official language, English is so entrenched that it has become the de facto national language.
Australian English is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon. Grammar and spelling are similar to that of British English with some notable exceptions.
According to the 2006 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for close to 79% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Italian (1.6%), Greek (1.3%) and Cantonese (1.2%); a considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual.
Between 200 and 300 Indigenous Australian languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact, of which only about 70 have survived.
Many of these are exclusively spoken by older people; only 18 Indigenous languages are still spoken by all age groups. At the time of the 2006 Census, 52,000 Indigenous Australians, representing 12% of the Indigenous population, reported that they spoke an Indigenous language at home.
Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 5,500 deaf people.
(Marc Prior)
