RSA Weekly Saturday 15 November 2025 Hi , We're delighted to hear that, late on Friday night, the Victorian Parliament's upper house passed amendments to the state's voluntary assisted dying laws to make them fairer and more
accessible. The changes include removal of a "gag clause" that prevented doctors from raising VAD with patients. Well done to all who were involved in the reform effort! If you'd like to share your thoughts about articles in the RSA Weekly, email me on:
sigladman@rationalist.com.au. Si Gladman Executive Director, Rationalist Society of Australia |
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| RSA RSA questions WA government about schools wellbeing pilot
program11 Nov: The Rationalist Society of Australia is seeking answers from the West Australian government on the status of the pilot program that allows a government school to directly hire a wellbeing support worker instead of outsourcing to a religious agency. In a letter to Minister for Education Sabine Winton last month, the RSA asked her to detail what the Department of Education planned to do in terms of evaluating the one-year
pilot program and whether it would be expanding it. Read the full article |
| ABC Doctors free to discuss Voluntary Assisted Dying with patients after Victorian MPs pass amendments 15 Nov: Reforms to give Victorians greater access to
voluntary assisted dying (VAD) passed parliament late on Friday night. The reforms remove a "gag clause" that had prevented doctors from raising VAD with patients. The amendments also stipulate that a health practitioner who conscientiously objects to VAD must provide a minimum amount of information to a patient about the option. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Experts urge holistic approach to counter Australia’s neo-Nazis 15 Nov: When more than 50 National Socialist Network supporters lined up
outside New South Wales parliament last weekend, the image shocked the country. Observers of the neo-Nazi group say the stunt was an example of a familiar tactic to bait the media, but the frequency of such events and the number of people involved now demand new responses. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN SA attorney general refers anti-abortion activist’s fundraiser ‘game’ for investigation 14 Nov: A “fun little game” launched by the
anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe to raise funds during an emotional debate over late-pregnancy abortion in South Australia has been referred for investigation. Read the full article |
| SMH The steps Labor is taking to push through anti-Nazi laws 14 Nov: NSW MPs are likely to return to parliament for an extra week as the Minns government
scrambles to push through new laws to outlaw neo-Nazi slogans and symbols – while Jewish groups say police already have enough powers to arrest racist protesters. Read the full article |
| FRIENDLY ATHEIST Florida's proposed loyalty oath for educators would ban atheists from becoming teachers 14 Nov: A pair of Republican bills meant to force
Florida teachers to pledge allegiance to the Constitution and loyalty to the country would — as written — effectively ban atheists and some religious educators from working in the state. The bills require teachers to say "so help me God" before they can ever step foot in a public school classroom. Read the full article |
| THE AGE Catholic school fees set to soar as families feel the pressure 13 Nov: Parents with children attending Catholic schools across Melbourne are
reeling after being told to expect increases of as much as 20 per cent to next year’s education fees. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Bill to restrict abortions later in pregnancy defeated in South Australia after emotional debate 13 Nov: A bill to restrict access to abortion
after 22 weeks and six days has been defeated in the South Australian parliament. The former One Nation MLC Sarah Game worked with the controversial anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe on the legislation that went before the SA parliament on Wednesday night. Read the full article |
| ABC 'No scope' to block neo-Nazis from registering as federal political party 12 Nov: Neo-Nazis promoting white supremacist views could not be blocked from
running in federal elections on ideological grounds, the Australian Electoral Commission has confirmed. Members of the National Socialist Network said they intended to register a political party. Read the full article |
| AUSTRALIAN CHRISTIAN LOBBY Faith leaders’ joint statement on VAD 12 Nov: “We, the undersigned, urge the NSW Upper House to vote in favour of the Voluntary
Assisted Dying Amendment (Residential Facilities) Bill 2025 (the Bill), which extends the right of faith-based aged care providers to decline assisted suicide on their premises.” Read the full article |
| HERALD SUN (VIA CATH NEWS) Recruitment by cults ‘widespread’ at university campuses 11 Nov: Melbourne universities have become hunting grounds for cults
and high-control religious groups recruiting new members, with activity on campuses ramping up in recent years, a state inquiry has heard. Read the full article |
| ABC Nampijinpa Price pulls out of Put Australia First rally 10 Nov: Firebrand Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has withdrawn from an upcoming
anti-immigration rally where she was promoted as the "headline speaker" alongside other guests, including Tommy Robinson, a British far-right activist and one-time member of a fascist political party. Read the full
article |
| CATHOLIC SASKATOON NEWS (CANADA) Charitable status remains intact for pro-life and “advancement of religion” non-profits 7 Nov: A communications officer
from the finance department was willing to confirm in the days leading up to the budget’s release that “the Government of Canada is not considering amending the Income Tax Act to remove the advancement of religion as a qualifying charitable purpose or to revoke the status of faith-based charities.” Read the full article |
When the ACT Legislative Assembly passed laws last month to ensure religious institutions will be vicariously liable for the actions of clergymen – and other organisations similarly for their volunteers and people in positions akin to employment – Shane Rattenbury took aim at those who opposed the move. What do you think? Email your comments to:
editor@rationalist.com.au |
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| RATIONALE A humanist’s compass on matters of race and
integration David Magson: Immigrants, like locals, must know that harmful practices are not tolerated here. Laws must be enforced and clear explanations given for why such practices are banned. But to refuse entire groups on the assumption they cannot integrate would be to slip into racism. Here humanism provides a compass. Read the full article |
| THE AGE The truth about UFOs and Bigfoot, as we enter a new ‘dark age’ of misinformation Liam Mannix: A few months ago, the last edition of The
Skeptic rolled off the presses. After 44 years of keeping the psychics, astrologers and homeopaths honest, Australia’s leading magazine of critical thought has closed. Read the full article |
| THE AGE Sanitise, manipulate, infiltrate: inside the neo-Nazis’ plot for power Jordan Baker and Matthew Knott: This cushioning of the extreme with
the mundane is deliberate. The NSN is trying to come out of the shadows. “The strategy is to normalise their name,” says Mario Peucker, who studies the dynamics of right-wing extremism at Victoria University, “to take the edge off a bit.” Read the full article |
| FINANCIAL REVIEW As descendants of Liberal MPs, we wish the Coalition had a rational climate policy Allegra Spender MP and Kate Chaney MP: There’s
a deep irony in the Liberal Party’s current disarray on climate and energy policy. If it remembered what it once stood for, such as rational economics, market-based solutions, scientific evidence and long-term thinking, its path forward would be far clearer. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION The Liberals dropped net zero. Will it make any difference to Australia’s climate response? Anna Malos: There’s no question the
climate policies of opposition parties matter – especially for investor and business confidence. But understanding the policies and laws already in place helps understand where progress will happen regardless. The economic transition from fossil fuel power generation to clean technologies is already well underway. Read the full article |
| CRIKEY South Australia is now the battleground for the forced-birth movement Barbara Baird and Prudence Flowers: South Australia has become an
unlikely battleground over abortion, with the SA Legislative Council due to vote on an anti-abortion bill – for the second time in a year – on November 12. This culture war has been largely forwarded by two politicians from the far right of the political spectrum. Read the full
article |
| THE FREETHINKER Review of ‘The War On Science’, edited by Lawrence Krauss Samuel McKee: It is little surprise that Krauss and Dawkins no longer
debate priests, bishops, and other religious apologists as much as they did in their New Atheist days. They have both made remarks to the effect that there are now different, perhaps even bigger, fish to fry. Read the full article |
| NBC Assemblies of God churches shielded accused predators — and allowed them to keep abusing children Mike Hixenbaugh and Elizabeth Chuck: Since
the 1970s, Assemblies of God churches have repeatedly reinstated ministers and volunteer leaders accused of sexual misconduct, returning them to pulpits and youth groups, an NBC News investigation found. Read the full
article |
| ABC JD Vance, Usha and the social media wars of religion Rajiv Thind: The resurgence of Hindutva or Hindu nationalism in Western countries has
largely gone unnoticed. Early Indian immigrants to the West tended to keep their religious identity personal and apolitical. But over the last decade, the rise of the Hindu right in the West mirrors its political ascent in India. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Does Trump truly care about Nigerian Christians? Of course not – he just knows faith sells Simon Tisdall: In speaking out, he was
massaging a key domestic constituency, not acting from genuine, God-fearing concern for “our cherished Christians” in a land he’s never visited. Cynical efforts by political leaders to harness and exploit religious sentiment are as old as human society. Read
the full article |
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