RSA Weekly Saturday 10 January 2026 Hi , For a number of years now, multiple Defence chiefs and the minister responsible for Defence Personnel have promised that Army and Air Force would consider following the Navy’s lead
and introduce secular and non-religious roles into their chaplaincy branches. Yet, despite a 2024 review of Navy’s secular roles finding “strong demand”, nothing has happened. Today, the majority non-religious workforces of Army and Air Force still don't have a non-religious frontline support option! So we've asked some questions of a Defence chief. If you'd like to share your
thoughts about articles in the RSA Weekly, email me via: sigladman@rationalist.com.au. Si Gladman Executive Director, Rationalist Society of Australia |
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| RSA Australia must address discrimination at home to credibly
advocate religion and belief rights abroad, RSA tells Wong10 Jan: Australia cannot credibly advocate for religion and belief rights internationally while different levels of government continue to discriminate against non-religious people at home, the Rationalist Society of Australia has told foreign minister Penny Wong. In a letter, the RSA said the government must address the discriminatory and unfair treatment against non-religious
citizens in government institutions and programs to credibly advocate for freedom of religion and belief internationally. Read the full article |
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RSA questions Defence Force chief over absence of secular and non-religious frontline wellbeing support6 Jan: The Rationalist Society of Australia has questioned a military chief on when the Defence Force will finally provide all non-religious Defence personnel with the option of accessing secular
and non-religious frontline wellbeing support. In a letter last month, the RSA told Chief of Personnel, Lieutenant General Natasha Fox, that it was “deeply concerned” about the Defence Force’s failure to meet the wellbeing needs of its majority non-religious workforce. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Almost 50 writers boycott Adelaide festival after it dumps pro-Palestine academic 9 Jan: The Adelaide festival has pulled down part of its
website as dozens of speakers said they were boycotting writers’ week, after Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah was dumped from the lineup with the board citing “cultural sensitivity” concerns after the Bondi terror attack. Read the full article |
| HILLS SHIRE TIMES Hillsong Church’s massive $1bn plans for Norwest 9 Jan: A proposal for a huge $1bn development on Hillsong Church’s land in Sydney’s
northwest has been lodged which will see more than 900 units and commercial buildings if approved. Read the full article |
| OUT IN PERTH Cook government commits to action on International Day to End Conversion Therapy 7 Jan: Western Australia’s Attorney General Dr Tony Buti has
committed to introduce legislation that will ban conversion therapy practices in Western Australia before the end of the year. Brian Greig from rights group Just.Equal said the government’s long delays on tackling the issue were unacceptable. Read
the full article |
| THE AGE Coalition doesn’t ‘need to see’ sexuality protections in hate speech reforms 7 Jan: Hate speech legislation being drafted by the federal government
after the Bondi terror attack must focus solely on Islamic extremism and antisemitism, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says, despite calls for the protection of LGBTQ Australians in the reforms. Read the full
article |
| THE GUARDIAN MP asks home affairs minister to investigate potential foreign interference after Israel ‘targets’ him in dossier7 Jan: A NSW MP has asked the federal home affairs
minister to investigate whether Israel has breached Australia’s foreign influence laws by authoring a dossier naming him and other politicians as promoting antisemitic and anti-Zionist content. Read the full article |
| DAILY MAIL Pete Hegseth accused of 'taking a sledgehammer' to religious freedom in the military7 Jan: Pete Hegseth has sparked fierce backlash inside the US military after taking aim
at 'woo-woo' new age beliefs and allegedly threatening decades of religious freedom in the armed forces. Recent comments by the Defense Secretary have faith leaders, atheists, and civil libertarians alike fearing that he will end the military's long support for religious pluralism by pushing his brand of Christian nationalism. Read the full article |
| THE AGE Government readies new hate speech laws 6 Jan: The Albanese government is being lobbied to include protections for disabled and LGBTQI Australians
in beefed up hate speech laws as it prepares to circulate draft legislation within days. Anti-vilification laws are set to be at the top of the government’s agenda when parliament returns ahead of schedule later this month. Read the full article |
| SYDNEY MORNING HERALD The King’s School headmaster takes legal action after being dismissed6 Jan: The headmaster of The King’s School has launched legal action against the
institution’s governing council after being terminated from his job. Tony George had been on leave while the school investigated an incident in which it is alleged he clipped the back of a senior student’s head at a faith lecture. Read the full article |
| HERALD SUN Former student of Sphinx Spiritual School of Learning speaks after leaving controversial sect5 Jan: A woman who was a student at Sphinx Spiritual for more than a decade
has spoken publicly for the first time after she claims she was shamed, controlled and isolated in a Mornington Peninsula sect. Ella says she was shamed, controlled and isolated from her loved ones. Read the full article |
| BBC Call for circumcision safeguards after baby death3 Jan: A coroner has warned that further babies could die unless the government introduces regulation of non-therapeutic male
circumcision following the death of a six-month-old boy in west London. Read the full article |
| ABC NT to introduce Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation in 2026
2 Jan: The Northern Territory government says it will introduce voluntary assisted dying (VAD) legislation to parliament
this year, nearly three decades after the Commonwealth vetoed the NT's world-first euthanasia legislation in 1997. Read the full article |
| REUTERS Indonesia's new criminal code requires public oversight, minister says 31 Dec: Indonesia's new criminal code, which will make crimes of premarital sex and
insulting the state when it takes effect on January 2, will need public oversight to help prevent abuse of the law, a government minister told Reuters. Read the full article |
| CHRISTIAN DAILY More than a million Australians attend church weekly, latest research finds 30 Dec: New national data suggests Australia’s churches are continuing
a gradual recovery in weekly attendance following the COVID-19 pandemic, while still falling short of levels seen at the turn of the millennium. The findings are released through the inaugural local Church Pulse Check Panel. Read the full
article |
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| RATIONALE Letters to the Editor: Taking issue with the
Catholic archbishop’s heartless, offensive ‘kill teams’ comments Geoffrey Williams: I was very frustrated when I read the article in the RSA Weekly about Sydney’s Roman Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher in which he used such inappropriate and emotive terms as “assisted suicide” and “killing teams” . Such terms are frightening and offensive to people who are considering voluntary assisted dying. Read the full Letters column |
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| RATIONALE Key lessons about misinformation from ancient
scientists Jemima McPhee: Ancient scientists can be easy to dismiss… Because these scientific beliefs are so different from our own, it may seem we have nothing to learn from long-dead scientists. However, thinkers 2,500 years ago already faced many problems that are today amplified by social media and artificial intelligence, such as how to tell truth from fiction. Read the full article |
| PATRICK MCIVOR BLOG Why Don’t Cults Pay Tax? Patrick McIvor: The ACNC is not designed to assess whether an organisation’s routine conduct is
psychologically coercive or abusive. It has no legal test that reliably distinguishes public benefit from patterns such as enforced dependency, family estrangement, or coercive financial demands. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION As authors abandon Adelaide Writers’ Week, is free speech in tatters? Denis Muller: Free speech should be protected up to the
point where it does unjustifiable harm. The arts, along with the media, are the prime means by which the right of free speech is made real. And these institutions have an obligation to stand firm in the face of objections from sectional interests. Read the full article |
| CRIKEY Decision to disinvite Palestinian-Australian writer from Adelaide Festival is pure, ugly politics
Amy Remeikis: The moral spinelessness in not only seeking to
silence Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, but to link the cancellation to the abhorrent terrorist attack in Bondi, speaks volumes over who is allowed to have a voice in Australia. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION Stephen Miller: portrait of Donald Trump’s ideologue-in-chief
Natasha Lindstaedt: Miller’s extreme ideas did not come out of nowhere. In contrast to the
vice-president, J.D. Vance and secretary of state, Marco Rubio, whose ideologies have evolved significantly to be in line with Trump’s agenda, Miller has had a long history of supporting radical America First style policies. Read the full
article |
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