The Governor-General, Michael Jeffrey, says closer dialogue between the world's religious leaders offers the best hope of combating prejudice and misunderstanding.
Major General Jeffrey says Australia has played a leading role in areas such as interfaith dialogue and multiculturalism.
He says unrest, like last year's racially motivated riots in the southern Sydney suburb of Cronulla, is extremely rare here.
And he says forging closer ties at the global level between religious groups could help in the war against terrorism.
"Getting religious leaders, not just nationally, but globally - if you can define them and I know that's hard in the Muslim context - but I think getting our global religious leaders together under the global media to talk about the commonalities, namely the brotherhood of man, could do a lot towards easing some of the tensions that have risen to the surface over recent months, recent years."