RSA Weekly Sunday 18 January 2026 Hi , We're pleased to join with a number of other pro-secular and non-religious organisations for a new campaign leading up to the Census in August, encouraging Australians to mark 'No
religion' if they're not religious. As you know, there's a great need for the campaign, given the ABS' decision to reuse the biased question that inflates the religion result. The campaign's new website is now live (see here). I urge you to check it out and throw your support behind the
campaign. With the Albanese government's proposed hate speech laws dominating headlines for a number of days, we outlined our concerns yesterday about the legislation, particularly in relation to the religious exemptions (see below). 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 Religious beliefs should be no excuse for hate crimes, says
RSA17 Jan: The Rationalist Society of Australia is calling on the federal parliament to reconsider the inclusion of religious exemptions in any new hate speech laws. The Albanese government’s Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 – which is expected to be debated when parliament resumes this coming week – contains a religious exemption for the proposed new offence of publicly inciting racial hatred.
Read the full article |
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We’re running a new campaign for the 2026 Census!16 Jan: With the next Census locked in for 11 August 2026, we’ll be running another public campaign in the lead-up to Census night. We were grateful for the support of so many in spreading our campaign message at the 2021 Census. Once again, there is
a great need for a campaign to encourage Australians to reflect on their relationship with religion. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Labor to separate gun control from proposed laws to address hate speech 17 Jan: Anthony Albanese has conceded planned hate speech laws
designed will not pass parliament, agreeing to a Greens request to put forward new gun control laws separately. Labor will also try to push through legislation giving the government powers to ban hate groups. Read the full
article |
| ABC Top religious leaders call on PM to scrap plan to outlaw promotion of racial hatred 17 Jan: A broad coalition of Australia's most influential religious
leaders have urged the prime minister to scrap Labor's proposal to outlaw the promotion of racial hatred, raising "deep concerns" about the impact on freedom of religion and expression. Read the full article |
| ABC Shincheonji cult using 'special force teams' to spread across the country 16 Jan: A former follower of a fringe Christian organisation says "special
force teams" are recruiting members in Ballarat, Bendigo, Darwin, Geelong and Melbourne to expand its church's reach. The Shincheonji Church of Jesus has been described as an "apocalyptic Christian cult". Read the full
article |
| SBS Neo-Nazi groups say they're disbanding but this may not be their end, experts say16 Jan: Australia's most prominent neo-Nazi group has been dealt a "significant" blow by proposed
hate speech laws, experts say, while warning the movement is likely to adapt rather than vanish. After the proposed legislation was revealed, the National Socialist Network said it would disband entirely. Read the full
article |
| THE GUARDIAN Rightwing leaders endorse Viktor Orbán in Hungarian election campaign video16 Jan: Rightwing leaders from around the world have come together to endorse Hungary’s Viktor
Orbán, hinting at the symbolism that the country’s elections hold for global far-right movements even as the populist leader lags in the polls. Read the full article |
| THE AGE Social media posts could fall foul of new hate speech laws 15 Jan: Civil liberties groups are warning that social media posts questioning
multiculturalism, immigration policy or religious practices could fall foul of the Albanese government's proposed new hate crime laws. Free speech advocates are among those urging the government to halt and substantially rewrite its proposed laws. Read the full article |
| ABC Greens won't support Labor's sweeping hate law reform in current form15 Jan: The Greens will not support Labor's new hate laws without changes to protect all minorities and
legitimate protest, creating a hurdle for the government to pass its sweeping legislative response to the Bondi terror attack. Also, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley labelled the government's laws "unsalvageable". Read the full
article |
| ABC Controversial group Hizb ut-Tahrir says it 'cannot be banned'15 Jan: A controversial Islamic group says the government "cannot ban" its ideas despite its members facing the
threat of jail under proposed hate speech laws to go before parliament. Hizb ut-Tahrir has been singled out by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke as one of two groups to be targeted under the legislation. Read the full article |
| ABC Prayer hall linked to notorious preacher Wisam Haddad to close permanently14 Jan: A controversial prayer hall in south-west Sydney linked to notorious Islamic preacher Wisam
Haddad has announced it will permanently close. The announcement about Al Madina Dawah Centre was made on social media and reposted on a Telegram channel associated with Mr Haddad. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Over 300 Met staff disclose they are Freemasons or in other hierarchical groups
14 Jan: More than 300 Metropolitan police officers and staff have obeyed an order to tell their
bosses if they are members of hierarchical organisations such as the Freemasons, the high court has heard. Read the full article |
| SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Hate speech law’s religious exemptions anger Jewish groups, Coalition 13 Jan: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s closest Jewish ally has
warned that religious-text exemptions from proposed racial vilification laws would weaken the push to crack down on hate preachers, but the government insists the carve-out will not compromise its efforts to counter antisemitism. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Quoting religious text could be defence against Australia’s new hate speech laws 13 Jan: People accused of breaching new hate speech laws could argue
their conduct was legal because they were quoting from a religious text. Extracts of the draft bill show it will be illegal to publicly promote or incite hatred, or disseminate ideas of superiority or hatred. But a proposed legal defence to the rule states the legislation does not apply to an individual directly quoting a religious text. Read the full article |
| ABC RADIO Samoan Muslim leader concerned by latest government policy enforcing prayer and fasting session 13 Jan: Samoa's newly elected imam said he is 'feeling
scared' after it was proclaimed there would be a national period of prayer and fasting. The policy will also require all public servants to take part in prayers and fasting every Wednesday for the foreseeable future. Listen to the full
episode |
| ASIA-PACIFIC REPORT Mixed reactions over Samoan PM’s proposal to ban non-Christian religions 12 Jan: A proposal by Sāmoa’s Prime Minister to ban all non-Christian
religions from the country is being met with mixed reactions. The Samoa Observer reported church ministers and members of the public voicing views both for and against the proposal. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Underground church says leaders detained as China steps up crackdown 12 Jan: Leaders of a prominent underground church have been detained in
south-west China, according to a church statement, the latest blow in what appears to be a sweeping crackdown on unregistered Christian groups in the country. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN NSW councils to be given powers to shut down ‘factories of hate’ 12 Jan: The Minns government plans to give New South Wales councils stronger powers
to shut down unlawful places of worship as part of a crackdown on “factories of hate”. The new laws aim to clarify the power to shut down premises and will introduce bigger fines. Read the
full article |
| ABC Former members of Two by Twos call for financial transparency to access abuse compensation 11 Jan: Survivors of a secretive Christian sect central to a global
child sexual abuse investigation are demanding its leaders disclose how much wealth the group controls. They say a lack of financial transparency is preventing victims from accessing compensation. Read the full
article |
| THE GUARDIAN Attempt to overturn the Gambia’s ban on FGM heard by supreme court 9 Jan: A group of religious leaders and an MP in the Gambia have launched efforts
to overturn a ban on female genital mutilation at the country’s supreme court. The court case comes after two babies bled to death after undergoing FGM in the Gambia last year. Read the full
article |
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| RATIONALE Why do we think hard work is
virtuous? Chris Fleming: Weber’s book is not quite a history of economics, nor is it what we would label ‘religious history’. It borrows from both, but is stranger than either. The Protestant Ethic is a study of how religious ideas, especially Calvinism, helped shape the mindset upon which modern capitalism thrives. Read the full article |
| ABC Scripture as safe harbour? Why a religious text exemption in hate speech law is the wrong fix Renae Barker: I believe the religious text
exemption is therefore both unnecessary and unworkable. It risks privileging certain religions over others, forcing secular courts into theological disputes and distracting attention from the real issue: how religious ideas are interpreted and mobilised in ways that cause harm. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN I cannot be party to silencing writers
Louise Adler: With alarming insouciance protests are being outlawed, free speech is being constrained and politicians
are rushing through processes to ban phrases and slogans. Now religious leaders are to be policed, universities monitored, the public broadcaster scrutinised and the arts starved. Are you or have you ever been a critic of Israel? Joe McCarthy would be cheering on the inheritors of his tactics. Read the full article |
| PEARLS & IRRITATIONS Censorship doesn’t silence – it amplifies
Raghid Nahhas: History is replete with examples that efforts to suppress writers, thinkers, and artists
do not erase them, but instead propel their voices further into public view. Far from erasing dissenting voices, such campaigns often amplify them, transforming relatively contained figures into global symbols of resistance. Read the
full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Our rights as citizens and humans remain fragile
Julianne Schultz: Given that the consensus is that Australian constitutional change is just too hard, a
statutory bill of rights could have symbolic as well as practical impact. It would also strengthen Australian advocacy in a world where human rights are increasingly derided. Read the full
article |
| ABC Victim-survivor of child sexual abuse reveals identity in hopes it will give strength to others
Loretta Lohberger: For decades, Nicholas Taylor lived with the impact of
child sexual abuse. Last year, he told the Supreme Court in Hobart about the abuse he experienced while he was a student at St Virgil's College in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While running the case, his solicitors spoke with other former students who also made allegations of physical abuse. It has prompted a planned class action against the Christian Brothers. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Once again the Iranian people’s peaceful and democratic demands have been silenced
Behrouz Boochani, et al: Ultimately, mainstream media tend to reproduce two
dominant and competing narratives: one depicting the Islamic Republic as a fundamentalist regime responsible for mass atrocities, and the other promoting a nationalist alternative rooted in monarchist ideology. Largely absent from both frameworks are the lived realities of Iranians subjected to lethal state violence. Read the full article |
| THE FREETHINKER France’s rocky road to the separation of Church and state
Keith Porteous Wood: We have witnessed the French state’s institutional subservience to the
Catholic Church through its inaction on clerical child sexual abuse. Despite the mountain of evidence for child sexual abuse in the Church, neither Houses of Parliament have had the courage to institute an independent inquiry. Read the full
article |
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