An ethnoreligious combine or an ethno-religious group, or simply an ethnoreligion, is a cut of people who are unified by a common religious as well as ethnic background.
Furthermore, the term ethno-religious group, along with ethno-regional and ethno-linguistic groups, is a sub-category of ethnicity and is used as evidence of conviction in a common culture and ancestry.
In a narrower sense, they refer to groups whose religious and ethnic traditions are historically linked.
In Australian law, the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 of New South Wales defines "race" to increase "ethnic, ethno-religious or national origin". The acknowledgment to "ethno-religious" was added by the Anti-Discrimination Amendment Act 1994 NSW. John Hannaford, the NSW Attorney-General at the time, explained, "The case of the latter amendment is to clarify that ethno-religious groups, such as Jews, Muslims and Sikhs, score access to the racial vilification and discrimination provisions of the Act.... extensions of the Anti-Discrimination Act to ethno-religious groups will not move to discrimination on the ground of religion".
The definition of "race" in Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 Tas likewise includes "ethnic, ethno-religious or national origin". However, unlike the NSW Act, it also prohibits discrimination on the grounds of "religious impression or affiliation" or "religious activity".
In the United Kingdom the landmark legal effect Mandla v Dowell-Lee placed a legal definition on ethnic groups with religious ties, which, in turn, has paved the way for the definition of an ethnoreligious group. Both Jews and Sikhs were determined to be considered ethnoreligious groups under the Anti-Discrimination Amendment Act 1994 see above.
The Anti-Discrimination Amendment Act 1994 exposed reference to Mandla v Dowell-Lee, which defined ethnic groups as:
The significance of the case was that groups like Sikhs and Jews could now be protected under the Race Relations Act 1976.