RSA Weekly Sunday 14 December 2025 Hi , Whether it be at the federal level, at local government level, or in between, we aim to provide a strong voice for secularism and for the rights of non-religious people. See the
articles that we published this week about submissions that we made to a federal parliamentary inquiry about the charities sector and to a New South Wales council about the imposition of prayers in meetings. Of course, it's the funds that we raise through memberships, donations and bequests that make it possible to do this important advocacy work. 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 outlines legal concerns over prayers in Oberon council
meetings14 Dec: The Rationalist Society of Australia has called on a New South Wales council to remove acts of religious worship from its formal meetings and has warned that deciding not to could expose council to legal risks. In a submission to Oberon Council, as part of a public consultation process, the RSA outlined a number of legal concerns with keeping prayers as part of the council’s Code of Meeting Practice. At a meeting of council
this week, Oberon councillors will decide whether to keep prayers as part of formal meetings. Read the full article |
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| RSA Charities regulator needs power to act during elections, RSA
tells parliamentary inquiry12 Dec: The national charities regulator needs enforcement powers to take action against charities that “step over the line”, especially during election campaign periods, the Rationalist Society of Australia has told a parliamentary inquiry. In a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters’ inquiry into the 2025 federal election, the RSA raised concerns about the alleged election activities of
religious charities with charitable status for ‘advancing religion’. Read the full article |
| ABC NSW guidelines proposed to prevent hospitals from refusing abortion care based on personal beliefs 12 Dec: Hospital managers and executives would be
barred from blocking abortions because of personal beliefs, under new guidelines proposed for public health services across New South Wales. A draft copy of the "termination of pregnancy policy directive" includes a new section that specifically deals with conscientious objection among those managing and administering health and hospital services. Read the full article |
| THE AUSTRALIAN (VIA CATH NEWS) Archbishop makes plea against ‘kill teams’ in aged care 11 Dec: Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP has criticised
euthanasia laws in New South Wales following a failed attempt to overhaul the scheme, declaring faith-based aged-care facilities should not be forced to “host kill teams on site”. Read the full article |
| REGION Radford College's finances, governance, operations under the microscope in independent review 11 Dec: The Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn
has begun a review into Radford College’s finances, governance and operations due to “significant” increases in fees at the ACT school. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN LGBTQ+ events to go ahead at World Cup game despite Egypt and Iran objections 11 Dec: Plans to celebrate LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms in Seattle
during the World Cup next summer will continue despite objections from the Egyptian and Iranian football federations over the 'Pride Match' due to take place in the city. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN (UK) Church of England reviewing complaint against incoming archbishop of Canterbury 11 Dec: The Church of England is reviewing a complaint
against the incoming archbishop of Canterbury over her handling of an abuse allegation. Dame Sarah Mullally is due to take up the role next month, after Justin Welby was forced to resign over the way he dealt with a safeguarding scandal. Read the full article |
| SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Ley’s leaked plan to turbocharge deportations 10 Dec: Unlawful immigrants would be deported and visas torn up if people breached
Australian values under a plan by Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to muscle up to One Nation and Labor on migration. Read the full article |
| CATH NEWS Former senator to head National Catholic Education Commission10 Dec: Australia’s bishops have appointed former Victorian senator Scott Ryan as the next executive director
of the National Catholic Education Commission, succeeding another former senator, Jacinta Collins. Mr Ryan brings extensive educational policy knowledge and experience, having served within the federal government during pivotal points in the educational landscape. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Texas moves to bring Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA into schools 10 Dec: Texas has embarked on launching chapters of Turning Point USA – the
conservative youth organisation founded by the late rightwing activist Charlie Kirk – in high schools across the state, building on similar efforts in Oklahoma and Florida. Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, cited “an urgency and a need” for TPUSA. Read the
full article |
| ABC Hotline claims to have identified more than 200 alleged historical child abuse offenders in secretive Christian sect 8 Dec: Jillian Hishon’s hotline,
The Brave Truth, claims to have identified over 200 alleged perpetrators of historical child sexual abuse across Australia and New Zealand in a secretive Christian sect which goes by various names including The Two by Twos or The Church With No Name. A submission to a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into cults alleged the sect operates with "no governance". Read the full article |
| DAILY MAIL Two-word message on Christmas tree display sparks outrage 8 Dec: A Christmas tree has sparked backlash after displaying a banner that reads
'Happy Holidays' rather than 'Merry Christmas'. Italian luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana put together this year's tree outside 25 Martin Place in Sydney's CBD. Read the full article |
| NEWS ‘Head in the sand’: Horrific $1.5m abuse exposes Aussie church7 Dec: News Corp has reported that an ex-Jehovah’s Witness and cult survivor advocate is calling on the federal
government to blacklist the Jehovah’s Witnesses church from having charity status and enjoying tax exemptions. Lara Kaput said the church “systematically interferes with the handling of abuse … covering up by victim-blaming, threats of Armageddon and shunning”. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN (UK) C of E to challenge Tommy Robinson’s ‘put Christ back into Christmas’ message 7 Dec: The Church of England is to launch a poster campaign
aimed at challenging the anti-migrant message of Tommy Robinson, whose “Unite the Kingdom” movement has urged its supporters to join a carols event next weekend to “put the Christ back into Christmas”. Read the full
article |
| THE AUSTRALIAN Anti-abortion activists plot ‘wholesale capture’ of LNP 5 Dec: A 25-year-old crusader claims he has recruited 200 anti-abortion members to the LNP
youth wing as part of his ambition to get Queensland abortion laws overturned. Barclay McGain told a recent launch event for a Christian “political discipleship” movement of his plans to “wholesale capture and reform the Queensland LNP” to make it a “pro-life party”. Read the full article |
| GO GENTLE Demand for VAD in NSW continues to grow 1 Dec: The NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Board’s second annual report shows 2295 people made a first request to
access VAD, while 1028 people died using the VAD substance. The report marks the first full year of reporting since the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2022 came into effect. Read the full article |
| THE AUSTRALIAN Muslim bid to change terror laws sparks fear, anger among Jews 28 Nov: A concerted push by Muslim groups and the Australian Human Rights Commission
to remove religion as a motivation for terrorist acts has angered Jewish bodies and legal experts, who warn the move will undermine intelligence work while leaving communities exposed to attacks. Read the full article |
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| RATIONALE Simplistic and impractical: The Albanese
government’s social media ban Jack Dikian: The government says the ban is aimed at reducing the “pressures and risks” children can be exposed to on social media, which come from “design features that encourage them to spend more time on screens, while also serving up content that can harm their health and wellbeing.” I have not come across a single study that doesn’t call on social media platforms to better
manage harmful content. However, I believe a total ban is simplistic and impractical. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION Banning kids from social media doesn’t make online platforms safer. Here’s what will do that Joel Scanlan: The ban may keep some
children out (if they don’t circumvent it), but it does nothing to fix the harmful architecture awaiting them upon return. Nor does it take steps to modify the harmful behaviour of some adult users. We need meaningful change toward a digital duty of care, where platforms are legally required to anticipate and mitigate harm. Read the full article |
| THE FREETHINKER The Christmas story Don Cameron: Many well-known ancient characters, both real and fictional, were alleged to be the products of
miraculous births, usually fathered by a god and an earthly mother. It is against this background that two unknown Greek writers wrote a story of Jesus’ birth around 50 years after he had died. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION Hanukkah celebrates both an ancient military victory and a miracle of light Joshua Shanes: As a scholar of modern Jewish
religion and politics, I have always been fascinated by the ways in which modern Jews pick and choose from the well of tradition to construct a form of Jewishness they feel is authentic. Hanukkah serves as a prime example of this process. Read the full article |
| ABC RADIO How living like a Stoic changed my life Author and journalist Brigid Delaney lives her life according to the teachings of men who’ve been
dead for thousands of years. She is devoted to the Stoics, a philosophy that encourages its followers to focus on what they can control, accepting what happens outside of that sphere of control, and mastering inner peace to have a good life. Listen to the full episode |
| THE GUARDIAN Faith and Reform: is the religious right on the rise in UK politics? Peter Walker: The far-right agitator Tommy Robinson has begun
to present himself as explicitly Christian, although much of this is done as a contrast to Islam, the main religion he targets. Similarly, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK outpost of Turning Point, the rightwing student group set up by the killed US activist Charlie Kirk, includes social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” alongside anti-Islam and anti-migrant content. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN PODCAST (UK) Is the far right hijacking Christianity? Helen Pidd and Lamorna Ash discuss the ways Christian symbolism and messaging have
emerged within the far right movement and the benefits that the notion of religious grievance offer Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson. Ash describes the Christian influence within the Reform party and its connection to the Christian right movement in the US. Listen to the full episode |
| THE GUARDIAN (UK) The Guardian view on far-right perversions of the Christmas message: promoting a gospel of hate It would be easy to mock the
absurdity of a seasonal event implicitly dedicated to the cause of undermining peace and goodwill. But the apparent rise of Christian nationalism in Britain needs to be taken seriously. Crusader-style rhetoric has long been a feature of fringe extremist organisations. But Mr Yaxley-Lennon’s malign influence is popularising it to an extent hitherto unseen. Read the full article |
| FRANCE 24Weaponising secularism: French politicians accused of using ‘laïcité’ to target MuslimsRomain Brunet: Conservative lawmakers have put forward a number of proposals targeting France’s
Muslims, including a ban on under-18s wearing hijabs in public, citing the threat from radical Islamists. Critics say the measures violate the very secular rules they profess to defend, and highlight the growing use of French “laïcité” – or state secularism – to curtail the rights of Muslim citizens. Read the full article |
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