Weekend Wrap for 4 August 2024
Welcome to the NSL Weekend Wrap for 4 August 2024, where you can catch up on the latest secular-related news from around the country.
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At the National Level
The Rationalist Society of Australia is pushing the minister responsible for the charities sector to implement the Productivity Commission's recommendation to remove Basic Religious Charities (BRCs), and also to remove ‘advancement of religion’ as a charitable purpose in the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) Act 2012, in order to restore public confidence in the nation’s charities system. Earlier this month, the Productivity Commission, in its final report on philanthropy, said there was no justification for retaining BRCs and their related exemptions in the charities system. Religious groups with BRC status are exempt from financial transparency obligations and governance standards that apply to other religious groups and all other charities. The Productivity Commission did not go as far as recommending removal of ‘advancement of religion’ but it clearly provides special treatment to religious worldviews above other worldviews. (31 Jul 2024)
Read more at the Rationalist Society of Australia
Around the Country
NSW: The New South Wales Faith Affairs Council has turned down opportunities to advocate for the removal of religious-based discrimination in government bodies and for the overturning of a decision that prevented Steve Marton, the leader of Sydney Atheists, from becoming a member of the Faith Affairs Council. The Faith Affairs Council will also not ask the Minns government to remove the discriminatory practice of imposing daily Christian prayers in parliament This is despite the members of the Faith Affairs Council coming from faith groups that have, for a number of years, been demanding that the federal government introduce “religious freedom” laws to prevent discrimination on religious grounds. (29 Jul 2024)
Read more at the Rationalist Society of Australia
VIC: Dozens of low-fee Victorian Catholic schools will receive millions of dollars in funding from the Allan Government to upgrade classrooms and build new facilities. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Education Minister Ben Carroll announced 67 projects at 65 Catholic schools across Victoria, which will share in more than $243 million to expand and modernise existing facilities or build new schools. These projects are being delivered through the Catholic stream of the Labor Government’s building fund for non-government schools, which helps schools upgrade and expand their facilities, ensuring families have the best learning environments for their children. More than one-third of Victorian students study at Catholic or independent schools. (30 Jul 2024)
Read more at CathNews
NT: A report into the development of voluntary assisted dying laws in the Northern Territory has recommended the government legalise the practice in line with other Australian jurisdictions. Released on Wednesday, the NT government-commissioned report summarised the findings of an independent panel of appointed experts following months of consultation across the territory. It made 22 recommendations, including that the NT should implement legislation "broadly consistent" with laws in other Australian states and territories, and should develop and fund a "single, centralised service" for its delivery. (31 Jul 2024)
Read more at ABC News
VIC: The Legislative Council debated on Wednesday night the removal of prayers from state parliament after Liberal politician Evan Mulholland introduced a petition signed by 11,000 Victorians which called for the parliament to continue to impose exclusively Christian prayers as part of parliamentary procedures. In introducing the petition, Mr Mulholland argued that any move to "secularise" parliamentary procedures would "send a clear message from this Parliament that faith has no place in Victoria anymore." Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes accused the Liberal Party of using the issue to drive division and "convince people that the government are anti-religion". Mr Mulholland, who has previously appeared in a pro-prayer Australian Christian Lobby campaign, said he was jubilant to have "somewhat of a backdown" from the government. (1 August 2024)
Read more at the Rationalist Society of Australia
WA: Faith-based alcohol and drug rehabilitation provider Adult and Teen Challenge, which operates all over the world including in southern Western Australia, has vowed to review its program after former residents raised concerns about its reliance on unqualified staff and limited mental health support. The allegations come almost two years after the state government pledged to reform the unregulated private alcohol, drug, and mental health rehabilitation sector. Residents claimed that the only support the facility offered was faith-based, which they did not think was appropriate, and that many did not receive any professional mental health support during their time at the facility. (2 Aug 2024)
Read more at ABC News
Commentary and Analysis
Graeme Watson: Christians and conservatives outraged at drag performances at Olympics
"Senator Ralph Babet from the Australia United Party has called on all Australians to boycott watching the Olympic Games over the drag performance. In a media statement the Senator representing Victoria said the opening ceremony was “demonic and deranged”. ... The Australian Christian Lobby and the Family First Party, which is led by former ACL chief Lyle Shelton, are also up in arms. ... On Sunday Agenda commentator Kel Richards said he’d not watched the opening ceremony but expected it to be a family orientated show without 'weird stuff'. Richards said the Olympic organisers had deliberately planned to offend 2.8 billion Christians around the globe. Joe Hilderbrand said the mocking of Christians would set back the push for within Australia for protections to be introduced that would stop LGBTIQA+ students being discriminated against in religious based schools." (28 Jul 2024)
Read more at Out in Perth
Miles Pattenden: An Olympic-sized controversy — but Christians should think twice before engaging in competitive victimhood
"We may well have arrived at a moment when the particular constellation of beliefs associated with such banal identity intersectionalism collapses under the weight of its own internal contradictions, as well as the sheer conformism of those who seek to enforce its marginal agendas. As a gay man, that worries me, because it risks undoing much of the progress for LGBTIQ+ rights around the world over the past six decades. Nevertheless, that is not the point of this article. What I argue here is that the speed with which certain elements of the Christian community are embracing politicised victimhood is an unwelcoming development for Christianity’s place in the public sphere in Western societies. It represents a marked departure from the attitude that previous generations of Christian martyrs — real victims, if you will — glorified at a time Christianity truly was imperilled. To put it bluntly: Christians should be more wary about joining the self-pity parade." (30 Jul 2024)
Read more at ABC News
David Hastie: The Productivity Commission wants to reduce donations to Special Religious Education — but have they considered the consequences?
"As I say, the Productivity Commission has fundamentally misunderstood a vital element of Australia’s social settlement. If donating to SRE becomes harder and produces lower quality SRE, an unintended consequence will be to drive ever more religiously adherent families out of public schooling altogether, into the willing arms of Australia’s booming religious schooling movement, which now educates over 40 per cent of secondary students. This will further strip resources from public schools, which in turn intensifies disadvantage for those students left behind, and reduces the wellbeing of an already demoralised public schooling staff." (2 Aug 2024)
Read more at ABC Religion & Ethics
Karinna Saxby, Yuting Zhang & Zoe Aitken: Stigma around same-sex marriage affected Australians’ health. Here’s what happened in your electorate
"Community-level opposition to marriage equality and the stress that came with it is still making some Australians in same-sex relationships sick years after the vote, our study suggests. In research published today in the American Journal of Public Health, we show people in same-sex relationships living in areas more strongly opposed to marriage equality had higher rates of chronic health problems after the vote compared to those living in areas with less opposition." (2 Aug 2024)
Read more at The Conversation
Events and Campaigns
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
A change.org petition has been started, calling for churches to lose their tax-free status and for "the religious influence of churches in Australian politics and society" to be limited. It's currently up to 31,000 signatures. View the petition at change.org
The Australian Education Union is running a campaign calling for “every school, every child” to receive fair education funding. It's currently up to 94,000 sign-ups. Support the campaign here.
The Human Rights for NSW alliance has launched a campaign calling for NSW to pass a Human Rights Act.
That's it for another week!
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