# Australian Christians (political party)

The Australian Christians (AC), sometimes referred to as the Australian Christians Party (ACP), is an Australian political party that is described socially conservative and Christian-conservative. It was founded in 2011 and was registered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 15 December 2011.
The party is primarily active in Western Australia and contests both state and federal elections, although it is yet to elect any representatives. The party aims to represent what it sees as Christian values.

## History

The party was formed after the Victorian and Western Australian branches of the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) voted to form a new party. The party has endorsed senate candidates in Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania and plans to expand into South Australia and Queensland. The party has decided not to operate in New South Wales, where the CDP has one seat in the Legislative Council.
The party contested the 2012 Melbourne state by-election, receiving about 1% of the vote. The party contested the 2013 Western Australian state election, receiving 1.95% of the vote.
It also contested the 2013, 2016 and 2019 federal elections. At the 2016 federal election, Australian Christians fielded senate candidates for Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland and a total of eighteen candidates for seats in the House of Representatives across Victoria and Western Australia
The Party has been growing across Western Australia, and has contested all State and by-elections since 2011. The Party is headquartered in Osborne Park, WA.
In May 2017, Cory Bernardi, the leader of the Australian Conservatives, met the national and Victoria state leaders of the Australian Christians to discuss a merger between the two parties. In September 2017, the Victoria state leadership of the Australian Christians agreed to merge the branch with the Conservatives, whilst the WA branch remained. (The Australian Conservatives subsequently ceased operating in June 2019).
The Western Australian branch stood candidates for both the House of Representatives and the Senate at the 2019 federal election. It fielded candidates at the 2021 WA state election but did not win any seats.
The May 2022 federal election saw the Australian Christians contest WA seats, both in the senate and for nine in the House of Representatives.
In October 2023, the party had its first ever electoral victory during that year's Western Australian local elections, with WA branch president Mike Crichton elected in Rockingham. Crichton had run in the Rockingham by-election earlier in the year, receiving 2.44% of the vote.

## Policies

The Australian Christians oppose abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, pornography, homosexuality and same-sex marriage. It wants to "uphold marriage as the bond of union between a man and a woman, as husband and wife", ISP filtering on all devices to block "harmful content and pornography" and wants the Bible to be the foundation for laws, education and culture in Australia.
The party also "opposes the use of embryonic stem cells in medical research" and "believes the use of reproductive technology should be limited to married, opposite-sex couples".

## Election results

Senate
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of seats won | # of overall seats | +/– |
| 2013 | 54,154 | 0.40 #19 | 0 / 40 | 0 / 76 | 0 |
| 2016 | 66,525 | 0.48 #18 | 0 / 76 | 0 / 76 | 0 |
| 2019 | 23,983 | 0.16 #28 | 0 / 40 | 0 / 76 | 0 |
| 2022 | 33,143 | 0.22 #21 | 0 / 40 | 0 / 76 | 0 |

### Western Australia

| Election year | Legislative Assembly | Legislative Assembly | Legislative Assembly | Legislative Assembly | Legislative Council | Legislative Council | Legislative Council | Legislative Council |
| Election year | # votes | % votes | # seats | +/– | # votes | % votes | # seats | +/– |
| 2013 | 21,451 | 1.81 | 0 / 59 | 0 | 23,877 | 1.95 | 0 / 36 | 0 |
| 2017 | 27,724 | 2.10 | 0 / 59 | 0 | 26,209 | 1.94 #7 | 0 / 36 | 0 |
| 2021 | 20,869 | 1.48 | 0 / 59 | 0 | 28,051 | 1.95 #6 | 0 / 36 | 0 |

### Victoria

| Election year | Legislative Assembly | Legislative Assembly | Legislative Assembly | Legislative Assembly | Legislative Council | Legislative Council | Legislative Council | Legislative Council |
| Election year | # votes | % votes | # seats | +/– | # votes | % votes | # seats | +/– |
| 2014 | 26,560 | 0.79 | 0 / 88 | 0 | 35,164 | 1.03 #11 | 0 / 40 | 0 |