George Brandis, 36th Attorney-General for Australia, told a roundtable of faith leaders that Catholics are the victims of an "alarming emergence of intolerance of religious faith".
The Guardian has reported that the Attorney general used the example of people ridiculing the religion of former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott.
He said the "incessant, smearing ridicule" of Abbott's faith showed "bigotry at its most shameless."
He said: "[It was] made worse, if possible, by the added hypocrisy of the fact that many of those who engaged in that sneering were the very same people who like to pose as the enemies of bigotry."
He was speaking at the Human Rights Commission's inaugural roundtable on religious freedom and also raised concern about the country's intolerance towards Muslim Australians saying it showed Australia's "somewhat inconsistent attitudes" towards religious tolerance.
Mr Brandis continued saying that Christians, and highlighted that particularly Catholics, were often the subject of "mockery and insult by prominent writers and commentators."
"Members of the Islamic community are sometimes the victims of suspicion and hostility directed against them by those ignorantly seeking to blame terrorist violence upon Koranic teaching."
He continued saying sneering towards Catholics was one of the reasons for the comments made by former high court judge Dyson Heydon, who said anti-Catholicism in Australia could be called "the racism of the intellectuals."
Brandis challenged people, from the Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Catholic, Anglican, Baha'i, Russian Orthodox and Buddhist faiths in attendance, to find ways for mutual respect to be promoted.
