Weekend Wrap for 2 May 2026
Welcome to the NSL Weekend Wrap for 2 May 2026. The Wrap covers Australian secular politics — religious privilege and funding, religion in public schools, discrimination laws, voluntary assisted dying, and many other related issues. If someone forwarded this to you, you can subscribe on our website.
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The week was shaped by two deaths and a rally.
James Valentine, veteran 702 ABC Sydney broadcaster, chose to use NSW's voluntary assisted dying laws — and, crucially, chose to make that choice public. It was a different kind of gift: one that helps to strip away the silence that still surrounds a legal, compassionate option for Australians with terminal illness. Three days later, the story of Sue Collins emerged to show precisely why that silence carries costs. Collins died without accessing VAD because the federal telehealth ban made timely appointments impossible for a woman living 90 minutes from Melbourne. Independent MP Kate Chaney has reintroduced a private member's bill to fix the criminal code provision that causes this. The federal government, so far, has declined to act.
The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion delivered its interim report on 30 April: 14 recommendations, five of them classified. Commissioner Virginia Bell found no urgent gaps in existing counter-terrorism frameworks, though she recommended a national gun buyback scheme, a review of joint counter-terrorism teams, and enhanced security at high-risk Jewish events. The commission's first public hearings begin next week. What it ultimately says (or declines to say) about the exclusion of LGBTQIA+ people from the 2026 federal vilification offence remains the significant question for secular governance.
Outside Parliament House on Anzac Day Sunday, a different kind of flag was flying. Speakers at the "March to End Mass Immigration" opened proceedings with a haka against what the Brotherhood of Christ called a "demonic, satanic agenda", while attendees circulated "Make Australia Christian Again" hats and flags. Nationals leader Matt Canavan and One Nation's Pauline Hanson both addressed the crowd. Opposition leader Angus Taylor did not attend, but conceded there were "some things" he and Hanson agreed on. The same day, the Department of Veterans Affairs, which describes Anzac Day as the nation's "most important secular occasion", was simultaneously organising exclusively Christian commemorations overseas. The line between conservative politics and Christian nationalism was, once again, not where one might expect it to be.
And in Tasmania, the sale of Hobart Private Hospital to Catholic operator Calvary has prompted advocacy groups to ask the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner to inquire into whether the resulting removal of gender-affirming surgery, terminations, and contraceptive procedures constitutes unlawful discrimination. It is a textbook case of faith-based healthcare obstruction, and its structural character — the replacement of one facility with another — makes it harder to address than individual conscientious objection.
News this week
National: Voluntary assisted dying advocates credit awareness raised by James Valentine and his family (25 Apr 2026)
Veteran 702 ABC Sydney broadcaster James Valentine, who was dying of cancer, publicly disclosed that he used NSW's voluntary assisted dying laws — a choice made at his own request so that it might help break down the stigma that persists around an option that is now legal in every Australian state and territory except the Northern Territory. Andrew Denton, founder of Go Gentle Australia and a friend of Valentine, described the decision as a generous gift. Queensland accounts for almost two-thirds of all assisted deaths in Australia. The NT government has committed to introduce VAD legislation in 2026. The ban on telehealth for voluntary assisted dying consultations continues to be a problem for access in regional areas.
Read more at ABC News
National: Department that organises Christian-centric commemorations claims Anzac Day “most important secular occasion” (26 Apr 2026)
The Department of Veterans Affairs promotes Anzac Day as Australia's "most important secular occasion" in official public materials, yet organises exclusively Christian commemorations at its overseas services, including at Gallipoli and Villers-Bretonneux. At the Adelaide Dawn Service, a Christian chaplain gave a three-and-a-half-minute sermon and recited the Lord's Prayer. DVA's own suggested order of service lists prayers and hymns as merely optional. The Rationalist Society of Australia has been advocating for secular reform of commemorations and notes that, as yet, no person in a position of authority at the War Memorial has been "courageous" enough to act on what most observers recognise as an overdue change.
Read more at the Rationalist Society of Australia
National: "Christianity is the faith of Australia" and "Make Australia Christian Again" slogans at anti-immigration rally outside Parliament House (26 Apr 2026)
Hundreds gathered on Parliament House lawns for the "March to End Mass Immigration", co-addressed by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and Nationals leader Matt Canavan. The rally's opening speaker, from the "Brotherhood of Christ", led a haka against what he described as a "demonic, satanic agenda" and declared Christianity the faith of Australia to the exclusion of other religions. Multiple attendees were photographed with "Make Australia Christian Again" hats and flags. Canavan told the crowd that migrants who do not share "Australian values" should be deported. Coalition leader Angus Taylor, speaking separately, acknowledged there were "some things" he agreed on with Hanson. The rally was a staging post for the Farrer by-election campaign, where One Nation is challenging for the seat vacated by the Liberals.
Read more at news.com.au
National: Peak psychiatry body suspends Dr Andrew Amos after AHPRA restrictions (27 Apr 2026)
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists has temporarily withdrawn the membership of Queensland-based psychiatrist Dr Andrew Amos, following earlier restrictions imposed by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency that barred him from making public statements about gender medicine and limited his clinical contact with patients. Dr Amos has been a prominent public opponent of gender-affirming care for young people and has called for the repeal of conversion practices bans in Victoria and across Australia. He is associated with the National Association of Practising Psychiatrists, a body with a long record of opposing LGBTQIA+-related healthcare reforms. Dr Amos has contested the RANZCP's process, alleging procedural unfairness.
Read more at OUTinPerth
National: Push to make voluntary assisted dying available through telehealth (28 Apr 2026)
Susan Collins, a regional Victorian woman, died before she could access voluntary assisted dying after the federal telehealth ban made timely appointments impossible. Despite VAD being legal in all states, the Commonwealth Criminal Code treats telehealth discussions about VAD as potential facilitation of suicide, meaning patients must attend in person. It took Collins and her husband five weeks to secure an appointment 90 minutes away, by which point she could no longer eat, speak clearly, or walk. Independent MP Kate Chaney has reintroduced a private member's bill to amend the criminal code provision that causes this barrier. Advocacy group Go Gentle Australia and the AMA have both called for the one-line legislative fix. The federal Attorney-General has not yet acted.
Read more at ABC News
TAS: Concern Tasmanian hospital sale will increase discrimination (28 Apr 2026)
Calvary Health Care's acquisition of Hobart Private Hospital, announced in December and proceeding despite community concern, threatens to eliminate gender-affirming surgeries, contraceptive procedures, and surgical terminations over 14 weeks from Tasmania's private hospital sector. Calvary, a Catholic operator, does not provide these services. Equality Tasmania, Women's Health Tasmania, and Working It Out have written to the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner calling for an inquiry into whether the removal of these services constitutes unlawful discrimination on the basis of gender and family responsibilities. Equality Tasmania's Yalei Wilson said Calvary's existing refusal to allow gender-affirming surgeries is "already unlawful" under Tasmania's Anti-Discrimination Act.
Read more at OUTinPerth
National: ‘Hatred normalised in plain sight’: Government hesitation helped foster antisemitism, Jewish leader tells probe (29 Apr 2026)
Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler, writing in a personal capacity, told the royal commission that government failure to decisively confront antisemitic rhetoric after the October 7 attacks "emboldened the forces that ultimately produced the violence at Bondi." Leibler argued that the Albanese government, despite increasing security funding and appointing a special envoy for combating antisemitism, "calculated that confrontation would cost more politically than silence" — allowing hatred to normalise "in plain sight." He cited examples including Jewish artists deplatformed from festivals, university students evicted for being identified as Zionist, and health professionals targeted over perceived sympathy for Israel. Leibler said the use of "Zionist" as a proxy for "Jew" was "the mechanism by which antisemitism is laundered into acceptable speech."
Read more at The Age
National: Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion interim report delivers 14 recommendations (30 Apr 2026)
Commissioner Virginia Bell delivered the interim report of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion to Governor-General Sam Mostyn and tabled it in parliament on 30 April. The report makes 14 recommendations, five of which are classified. Published recommendations include a review of Joint Counter Terrorism Teams, a nationally consistent firearms agreement and gun buyback scheme, and increased security presence at high-risk Jewish events. Commissioner Bell found no gaps in existing legal frameworks that could have prevented or impaired the response to the December 2025 Bondi attack. Prime Minister Albanese committed to adopting all recommendations as far as they relate to the Commonwealth. The commission's first public hearings begin in Sydney on 4 May, with the final report due before the first anniversary of the attack. From a secular governance perspective, what the commission addresses — or declines to address — regarding the exclusion of LGBTQIA+ communities from the 2026 federal vilification offence will remain a key indicator of the commission's scope.
Read more at ABC News
NSW: Mark Latham ordered to pay Alex Greenwich $100,000 for homosexual vilification (30 Apr 2026)
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal has ordered former One Nation NSW leader Mark Latham, now a parliamentary independent, to pay $100,000 in compensation to independent MP Alex Greenwich after finding that his social media post and subsequent media statements constituted unlawful homosexual vilification and sexual harassment under the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act. The tribunal awarded maximum damages and ordered Latham to refrain from making further similar comments. Representing Greenwich, Dowson Turco Lawyers noted the tribunal found that Latham's conduct involved "graphic, sexualised, and demeaning stereotypes" and rejected attempts to characterise the conduct as political commentary, free speech, or good faith. The decision is additional to a 2024 defamation finding against Latham over the same conduct, which ordered $140,000 in damages and is currently under appeal.
Read more at OUTinPerth
Commentary and analysis
Rodney Croome: How the gay blood ban was really lifted (27 Apr 2026)
Veteran LGBTQIA+ rights advocate Rodney Croome — who donated blood for the first time on 20 April under Australia's new gender-neutral screening rules — reflects on the three-decade advocacy campaign that finally ended the discriminatory ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood. Croome notes that while the new rules are a significant advance, some inequities remain, and that the waiting period for those who have not been in monogamous relationships is still double that applied in comparable countries. The piece is a useful record of sustained civil society pressure and its results.
Read more at QNews
Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop: The Bondi royal commission interim report is careful but ultimately damning (1 May 2026)
This analysis of the interim report reveals a national security architecture that deprioritised counter-terrorism after the fall of the Islamic State caliphate in 2019 and never properly shifted back. ASIO's counter-terrorism budget proportion "significantly declined" across intelligence agencies between 2020 and 2025, even as the overall intelligence budget grew by more than $3 billion. The role of Australia's Counter-Terrorism Coordinator — established after the Lindt Cafe siege — had been reduced to part-time since 2019, with the report noting with characteristic restraint that the official's "other work takes up significant time." The most confronting section concerns NSW Police's response to pre-event security requests from the Jewish Community Security Group: despite a "high" threat rating and repeated ASIO warnings about crowded Jewish holiday events, five officers were sent to monitor an event of up to 1,000 people, with a senior officer's email direction noting there was "no need to stay the entire duration."
Read more at ABC News
Opportunities for action
CURRENT
WA: GRAI (GLBTI Rights in Ageing Inc) is calling on older LGBTI people and their supporters to share their experiences with guardianship and administration laws, as Western Australia launches a parliamentary inquiry into the system. Community members are encouraged to share their experiences by emailing chair@grai.org.au. Submissions to GRAI should be received by Friday 22 May 2026.
National: Dying With Dignity NSW has an opportunity for people to send a message to Attorney-General Michelle Rowland and ask her to make changes to improve VAD availability (by using telehealth). For people in regional areas and those who are unable to travel it is more difficult, or even impossible, to access VAD. This could be easily fixed by excluding VAD from telehealth prohibition. Visit their campaign here.
National: Go Gentle Australia's 2026 State of VAD Report made a compelling case for a straightforward amendment to the Commonwealth Criminal Code: remove the restriction that treats electronic communication and telehealth discussions about voluntary assisted dying as potential facilitation of suicide. This one-line fix would allow dying people — particularly those in regional and remote areas — to consult with VAD practitioners via telehealth rather than being required to travel repeatedly for in-person appointments. A central Queensland man died waiting for VAD access because of bureaucratic prescription mail rules. This is a discrete, fixable federal legislative problem. Contact your federal member or senator to call for the amendment.
ONGOING
The Rationalist Society of Australia is running a Change.org petition calling on the Australian War Memorial to take direct responsibility for the Anzac Day Dawn Service and end the imposition of Christian worship on a national commemoration. Read and sign the petition at change.org.
The Australia Institute are calling on federal parliament to pass truth in political advertising laws that are nationally consistent, constitutional and uphold freedom of speech. View the petition at The Australia Institute
The Human Rights Law Centre are running a website for those who want to support an Australian Charter of Human Rights & Freedoms. Visit the Charter of Rights website here
The Australian Education Union is running a campaign calling for “every school, every child” to receive fair education funding. Support the campaign here.
The Human Rights for NSW alliance is running a campaign calling for NSW to pass a Human Rights Act.
Our activities
NSL is involved in the joint 2026 Census - Not Religious? Mark 'No Religion' campaign aiming to improve the accuracy of census religion data. Visit the campaign website to learn more.
As always, the full videos of presentations and panel discussions from the 2023 Secularism Australia Conference (co-organised by NSL and other groups) are freely available for viewing on the Secularism Australia website and on YouTube!
More coming soon!
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