Good point anonymous, I had to check what the laws on religious freedoms were and I found this, which is actually close to the wording of U.S. laws:
"The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth."
The application of these laws is up to the courts I guess?
I totally agree with you, what is the acid test that determines if a religion is a hoax- is it scientific, historical?
This was a finding in regard to Scientology's claim to be a religion in Australia:
Church of the New Faith v Commissioner for Pay-Roll Tax (Vic)[edit]
In the 1983 judgment of the High Court in Church of the New Faith v Commissioner for Pay-Roll Tax (Vic), the court was primarily concerned with whether Scientology was a religion (and therefore entitled to tax exempt status). In judgement, the Court found that Scientology was a religion and argued that the definition of religion must be flexible, but also remain sceptical of false claims. Justices Ronald Wilson and William Deane set out five "indicia" of a religion:
(i) That the collection of ideas and practices involved a belief in the supernatural (being something that could not be perceived by the senses); (ii) That 'the ideas relate to man's nature and place in the universe and his relation to things supernatural' ; (iii) That the adherents accept certain ideas as requiring them or encouraging them to observe particular codes of conduct or specific practices having some supernatural significance; (iv) The adherents themselves form an identifiable group or groups; (v) The adherents themselves see the collection of ideas, beliefs and practices as constituting a religion.[16]