Secular Agenda

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We share highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast.This episode features highlights from our September 2023 webinar, when Dr Rebecca Banham shared insights into her research on the Australian media’s response to the rise of non-religious identification in the Census.Dr Banham is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Tasmania.In the webinar, she spoke about how, following the release of the most recent Census data, significant sections of the media responded to the rapid rise in non-religious identification in the national Census with concern, defensiveness and fear.You can watch the full webinar here on our YouTube channel.Read a review about the webinar here on our website.For more information about upcoming webinars and to register to attend them, visit the webinars page on our website.The theme music of the Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website.

This episode explores the development in New South Wales of the Faith Affairs Council and the state Labor government’s decision to block non-religious and ex-religious representation from the body. The episode features an interview with Steve Marton (2:25), who is president of Sydney Atheists. In November 2023, the state government rejected his application to become a member of the Faith Affairs Council. He applied for a position on the advisory body – which has a direct line to government ministers – in order to represent the voices of non-religious and ex-religious citizens on matters relating to religion.Before the state election last year, the Rationalist Society of Australia (RSA) warned the then Minns opposition that the party’s proposal to establish a Faith Affairs Council would privilege the voices of religious clerics even further in policy making and marginalise the voices of non-religious citizens. Read more here.In May 2023, multicultural minister Steve Kamper told the RSA that the proposed Faith Affairs Council would have “a diversity of viewpoints” represented. Read more here.In September 2023, atheist leader Steve Marton nominated himself for a position on the Faith Affairs Council. Read more here.In early November, a government official informed Mr Marton that the government had rejected his nomination. Read more here.In December, Mr Marton, speaking on radio, warned that the religious leaders elected to the body hold views at odds with the wider community and most religious people. Read more here.The podcast is hosted by Si Gladman, the Campaigns & Communications Coordinator for the Rationalist Society of Australia. To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, become a member or make a donation on our website.The theme music of The Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We share highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast.This episode features highlights from our March 2023 webinar, when Dr Jennifer Bleazby presented on her research into current scripture laws and policies operating in public schools across the country. Dr Bleazby is a Senior Lecturer at Monash University. She is also a recipient of an RSA Research Grant.In the webinar, she discussed how the methods of indoctrination used in programs such as Religious Instruction in Queensland and Special Religious Education in New South Wales undermine fundamental educational aims and raise problems for schools as they seek to help children to navigate disinformation, conspiratorial thinking and science denialism.You can watch the full webinar here on our YouTube channel.Read more about Dr Bleazby’s research here.The theme music of the Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website.

This episode explores the topic of Special Religious Education (SRE), or ‘scripture’, in New South Wales’ public schools, and the mounting public opposition to religious missionaries continuing to be allowed to interrupt the curriculum and take over class time. The episode features an interview with Steven Cowgill (4:48), a parent who has recently launched a petition on the New South Wales Parliament website. The petition – open for New South Wales citizens until 12 April 2024 – calls for the Legislative Assembly to ask that the state government amends the Education Act (1990) so that optional SRE and Special Education in Ethics (SEE) run only during participating students' own time, such as breaks or before or after school. If you are a citizen of New South Wales, please add your name to the petition. You can sign it here on the New South Wales Parliament website.In August 2023, the Sydney Morning Herald published an article detailing declining participation rates in SRE and growing opposition to SRE among education sector stakeholders. Read the article here.At budget estimates in October this year, education minister Prue Car ruled out any changes to the SRE program. Read more about that here.This year, the Rationalist Society of Australia has raised concerns with Minister Car about the teaching of creationism in Christian SRE. Read more here.  Also, the RSA has discovered Islamic teaching materials that warn children of “hellfire” and tell them to not “compromise or change your identity”. Read more here.The podcast is hosted by Si Gladman, the Campaigns & Communications Coordinator for theRationalist Society of Australia To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website.The theme music of The Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We share highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast.This episode features highlights from our June webinar with Dr Philip Saj, Visiting Scholar at The Business School at University of Adelaide.In the webinar, he spoke on the topic ‘Basic Religious Charities: The case for more transparency’. He shared insights from his research into Basic Religious Charities (BRCs) and their unique place in Australia’s charities system, enjoying exemptions from the financial reporting requirements and governance standards that apply to other charities. You can watch the full webinar here on our YouTube channel.Dr Saj told the webinar that removing exemptions for BRCs would enhance public trust in the charities system. Read a review of the webinar here on our website.In August this year, Crikey wrote an article about Dr Saj’s research in BRCs. You can read it here.The theme music of the Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website.

This episode explores the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) proposal to change the religion question for the 2026 Census, and the campaign behind the push for more accurate and meaningful data on religion. The episode features an interview with Michael Dove (1:57), the spokesperson for the Census21 – Not Religious? Mark 'No Religion' campaign. At the 2021 Census, the campaign – which was a joint effort by a number of pro-secular organisations, including the Rationalist Society of Australia – encouraged Australians to mark ‘No religion’ if they were no longer religious. More recently, the campaign has been making submissions to the ABS’ public consultation process for reviewing Census topics and considering changes to questions. The Census21 – Not Religious? Mark 'No Religion' campaign made its most recent submission to the ABS consultation process in late August. You can read it on the campaign’s website here.For more information about the Census topic review process, visit the ABS website here.For more information about the 2021 Census results for religion, visit the ABS website here. The podcast is hosted by Si Gladman, the Campaigns & Communications Coordinator for the Rationalist Society of Australia.To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website.The theme music of The Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.

This episode takes a look at the growing pressure on the Palaszczuk government to move Religious Instruction – or RI – out of class time at public schools in Queensland. The episode features an interview with Labor branch member Mel Dodds (1:41), who successfully moved a resolution calling for reform at Queensland Labor’s State Party Conference in early June 2023. Her resolution asked: that RI be removed from lesson time to lunch time, or to before or after school; or, alternatively, that non-participating students be allowed to continue with the normal curriculum. The episode also features Alison Courtice (10.47), the spokesperson for secular advocacy group Queensland Parents for Secular State Schools.The Rationalist Society of Australia is campaigning for change on Religious Instruction in Queensland and Special Religious Education in New South Wales. See our campaign page and catch up on the latest articles here.In early June 2023, members of the Queensland Labor Party sent a strong message to the Palaszczuk government that they want RI classes to be moved outside of class time and teaching time given back to professional teachers. You can read about it here.Earlier this year, the media reported that Christian missionaries involved in the RI program viewed public schools as “mission fields” to “harvest” children for the Lord. You can read about it here.In response to the media attention, a number of state Labor MPs spoke out against RI, with Don Brown saying “time is up” for the program. You can read about it here.The theme music of the Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website.

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We share highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast.In this episode, we hear from Phillip Hoglin CSC, a former Colonel in the Australian Army and Defence statistician, on the changing religious demographics in the Australian Defence Force (ADF).In June 2022, he appeared in a webinar which focused on the topic of religion in the ADF. At that webinar, the main speaker was former head of Navy chaplaincy, Collin Acton OAM, who spoke on the topic, ‘The need for a new model of wellbeing support in Defence’. You can watch the full webinar here on our YouTube channel.We interviewed Collin for a previous episode of this podcast in October 2022.Phillip has written extensively on the changing religious demographics in the ADF. See: ‘Losing Our Religion: The ADF’s Chaplaincy Dilemma’ (The Forge); ‘Secularism and pastoral care in the Australian defence force’ (Australian Army Journal); ‘Religious chaplaincy is failing the Defence Force’ (Rationale magazine).Find out more about upcoming RSA Webinars or past ones here on our website.

This episode explores the nature of Australia’s system of public holidays and the growing calls for it to better reflect the religious and non-religious diversity of our multicultural society. The episode features an interview with Hugh Piper, the Program Lead at the Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy and Defence Dialogue. Earlier this year, he put forward a secular solution to the problem – a system in which everyone would have a quota of portable public holidays to decide which days they want to take off.SHOW NOTESHugh Piper’s original article detailing his proposal for portable public holidays appeared on the Lowy Institute’s Interpreter blog on 17 January 2023. You can read it here.The article was a response to a previous article by Osmond Chiu, who is Research Fellow at the Per Capita think tank, published on the Interpreter on 12 January 2023. You can read it here.The theme music of the Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website.

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We’re now sharing highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast.In this episode, we hear from Jonathan Meddings, author of the new book ‘The Final Cut: The truth about circumcision’. He is Chair of The Darbon Institute, a charity working to protect and promote everyone's right to bodily integrity and autonomy in Australia and New Zealand. He is also a former vice-president and board member of the Rationalist Society of Australia.As guest speaker at our November 2022 webinar, Meddings spoke on the prevalence of cosmetic circumcision in Australia and concerns about incorrect and fraudulent claims for circumcision in the Medicare system. You can watch the full webinar here on our YouTube channel.Find out more about upcoming RSA Webinars or past ones here on our website.

This episode explores the growing momentum at the level of local governments for prayer rituals to be replaced with more secular and inclusive practices. The episode features interviews with two councillors – Suzy Stojanovic (1:50) from the Maroondah City Council in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs in Victoria, and Beth Warren (16:18) from the City of Clarence in the greater Hobart area in Tasmania. Earlier this year, Councillor Stojanovic was among 21 councillors who signed a joint letter to the state government opposing prayer rituals in council meetings. Last year, her council moved towards having a multi-faith option and also added a secular pledge. Councillor Warren’s council last year voted to replace its prayer ritual with a moment of silent reflection. SHOW NOTESThe Rationalist Society of Australia is campaigning for state and federal parliaments, and local councils, to replace prayer rituals with more secular and inclusive practices. See our campaign page here. In February this year, 21 councillors from across Victoria sent a joint letter to the state government opposing the practice of including prayer rituals as part of formal proceedings in local government meetings. Read more here.In November last year, councillors at the City of Clarence voted overwhelmingly to replace prayer rituals with a moment of silence reflection. Read more here.The theme music of the Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website.

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We’re now sharing highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast.In this episode, we hear from: Jack Galvin Waight (1:42), Regional Organiser for the New South Wales Teachers Federation; and Dr Marilyn Campbell (23:20), an educational psychologist at the Queensland University of Technology.As guest speaker at our July 2022 webinar, Mr Galvin Waight – author of the 2022 report, 'Teaching not preaching: Making our public schools secular' – spoke on the topic, 'Making our public schools secular'. You can watch the full webinar here on our YouTube channel.In February 2022, Dr Campbell spoke on the topic, 'Providing better mental health support for schoolchildren'. This podcast episode focuses on the discussion at the Q&A section of the webinar, when Dr Campbell addressed questions about the National School Chaplaincy Program. You can watch the full webinar here on our YouTube channel.Find out more about upcoming RSA Webinars or past ones here on our website

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest – and beyond just matters of secularism.Over coming weeks, on this podcast we’ll be sharing the highlights of our webinars from the past year or so.In this episode, we hear from: Bill Browne (1:50), Senior Researcher in the Democracy and Accountability Program at The Australia Institute; and Dr Vivian Gerrand (30:00), Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University.As guest speaker at our May 2022 webinar, Mr Browne presented on the topic, ‘The momentum for truth in political advertising laws’. You can watch the full episode here on our YouTube channel.In March 2022, Dr Gerrand spoke on the topic, ‘Misinformation and the rise of new extremes in Australia’. You can watch the full episode here on our YouTube channel.Find out more about upcoming RSA Webinars or past ones here on our website

This episode explores the question of whether public schools will have a real choice of a  secular option under the federal government’s revised National School Chaplaincy Program. From the WA Public Schools Alliance, Rosemary Lynch (01:43) shares insights into what has been happening in Western Australia, including the push by Parents & Citizens groups for governments to remove the religious requirement for the chaplaincy roles. From Victoria, former primary school principal and now councillor at the City of Port Phillip, Peter Martin (13:22), talks about his school’s opposition to the religious nature of the program and how it made alternative arrangements to secure secular youth workers.The Rationalist Society of Australia is campaigning for the discriminatory hiring practices to be removed from the National School Chaplaincy Program. See our campaign page and catch up on the latest articles here. In July, the RSA reported that the Maylands Peninsula Primary School’s Parents & Citizens (P&C) group had held a survey of its school community, which overwhelmingly voted to remove religious-based discrimination in the hiring practices of school chaplaincy positions. Read more here.In September, the RSA reported on how all of Western Australia's P&C groups rejected the current federal and state model of funding religious chaplains through religious labour-hire firms. Read more here.The theme music of the Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website.

In this episode, former Navy top chaplain Collin Acton OAM speaks of being “forced out” of the Australian Defence Force for publicly advocating for reform of the military’s religious-based pastoral care and wellbeing support provided to service personnel. Earlier this year, the taxpayer-funded Religious Advisory Committee to the Services (RACS) – consisting of religious clerics – complained to the Chief of Defence Force about a media appearance by Collin on ABC radio. As Director-General of Navy Chaplaincy in 2020, Collin was instrumental in having secular wellbeing officer roles introduced for the first time into the Navy’s chaplaincy branch to help meet the needs of non-religious personnel. The majority of ADF personnel identify as not religious.The Rationalist Society of Australia is campaigning for reform of the religious-based chaplaincy model in the Australian Defence Force. See our campaign page here. In April this year, Collin Acton was interviewed for ABC Radio’s ‘Conversations’ program. Listen to the interview here.The theme music of the Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website.

The Rationalist Society of Australia is campaigning for reform to the National School Chaplaincy Program. See our campaign page here. In April this year, Caragh Larsen raised her concerns about the school chaplaincy program in this article by The Guardian.The theme music of the Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website.

The Rationalist Society of Australia is campaigning for prayer rituals in parliaments and councils to be replaced with more inclusive practices. See our campaign page here. If want you see prayer rituals replaced with more inclusive practices, please sign this change.org petition by Meredith Doig, president of the Rationalist Society of Australia.The theme music of the Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer. This episode also features 'Pensive' by Shimmer.To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website. 

This episode looks at the religious-based discrimination in the National School Chaplaincy Program that prevents non-religious people from becoming chaplains. We hear from two people who wanted to work in the taxpayer-funded roles but could not because of their lack of religious belief. In Western Australia, retired school principal Karen Garn-Jones lodged a complaint with the state’s Equal Opportunity Commission last year. In Victoria, Juliette Armstrong took her case to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, where a settlement was reached.

This is an introduction to the Secular Agenda podcast, by the Rationalist Society of Australia. The host is Si Gladman, Campaigns and Communications Coordinator for the Rationalist Society of Australia. The theme music is titled 'Curiosity' by Shimmer.