4. The need for better prevalence data Governments need reliable data to inform effective law and policy. Such data is generally collected and assessed in accordance with conventional scientific practices, often at arm’s length from anyone with an interest in the data itself, to ensure its reliability. While religious communities generate valuable information about the nature of serious harms, robust, comprehensive and comparable data about the prevalence of serious harms is harder to come by. ECAJ makes the important point that ‘many incidents of antisemitism in Australia occur but are not formally reported either to appropriate Jewish authorities or to the police. Thus, the statistics in [the ECAJ] Report represent only a proportion of incidents actually occurring in Australia.’ Since 2007, the most comprehensive research on Australia’s diversity has been found in the annual Scanlon Foundation report. The 2018 report records a rise in experiences of discrimination: ‘Reported experience of discrimination on the basis of “skin colour, ethnic origin or religion” was at 19 per cent in 2018, close to the level of five of the last six years, but significantly higher than the 9 per cent–10 per cent in 2007–2009.’28 Freedom of religion in Australia: a focus on serious harms • July 2020 • 17