The Australian city of Melbourne has recently been voted as the world’s most liveable city for the fourth year in a row. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual liveability survey had Melbourne leading the top ten cities, which also included Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto, Adelaide, Calgary, Sydney, Helsinki, Perth and Auckland.
Indeed, Melbourne is certainly an easy city to live in from a material perspective according to the survey’s criteria: healthcare, education, stability, culture and environment and infrastructure. In matters of Christian faith, however, there are a number of challenges which are not considered by the liveability survey.
Driving faith from schools
The Council for Christian Education in Schools, also known as Access Ministries, runs Christian Special Religious Instruction (SRI) on behalf of 12 denominations, using volunteer instructors, in the State of Victoria’s government schools. In 2011, religious instructors were present in 70% of public primary schools in Victoria. This number has declined in recent years in the face of a relentless campaign – at times resembling a witch-hunt – by lobby groups determined to drive all religious instruction from State schools.
