RSA Weekly Sunday 22 March 2026 Hi , We've had a WA focus this week. In recent years, we've reported on how the Parents & Citizens groups from Western Australia's public schools have been calling for the state
government to directly fund secular and professional wellbeing support workers, instead of religious chaplains through outsourcing arrangements. Now, there appears to be a pushback. The state parliament has established a 'friendship group' to promote “the benefits of school chaplains”! Meanwhile, on the issue of the state parliament's daily Christian prayers, we have made a submission to a committee inquiry examining the Standing Orders, and have called for secular reform. 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 Calls grow for WA parliament to remove daily acts of religious
worship19 Mar: The Rationalist Society of Australia has urged a West Australian committee to modernise parliamentary practices and replace the daily Christian prayers with something that better reflects the state’s increasingly non-religious and religiously diverse population. In a submission to the Procedure and Privileges Committee’s inquiry into the Legislative Assembly Standing Orders, the RSA noted that ‘no religion’, as of the 2021
Census, was already a larger share of the WA population than Christianity and would likely reach 50 per cent this year. Read the full article |
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| RSA New parliamentary friendship group to promote chaplaincy as WA
school communities call for change17 Mar: Religious lobbyists and their supporters in the West Australian parliament are pushing back against the growing calls for the state government to stop funding chaplains in public schools, with the establishment of a new friendship group in the parliament to promote “the benefits of school chaplains”. Members of parliament have set up the Parliamentary Friends of School Chaplaincy group after the
state’s public school communities last year overwhelmingly called for the Cook government to employ wellbeing officers that are “permanent, secular, professional, with direct employment by schools”, instead of outsourced religious chaplains. Read the full article |
| SKY NEWS South Australian election: Liberal Senator Alex Antic refuses to rule out joining One Nation22 Mar: South Australian Liberal Senator and conservative faction heavyweight
Alex Antic has refused to rule out a defection to One Nation, after the party outpolled the Liberals at his home state’s election. Read the full article |
| BRISBANE TIMES Study finds ‘significant barriers’ for GPs offering voluntary assisted dying20 Mar: Queensland doctors need more education and financial incentives to offer voluntary
assisted dying, a new study has found, with researchers highlighting “significant” barriers preventing GPs from taking up the scheme. Read the full article |
| ABC Dorothy Day House raided by police over 'From the River to the Sea' banner20 Mar: Queensland Police have raided a Brisbane Catholic organisation over a banner that says: "From
the River to the Sea, come get us Crisafulli." On Friday morning, officers raided the Dorothy Day House in Greenslopes, an informal Christian charity that provides food and housing to homeless people and refugees. Read the full
article |
| SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Albanese confronted by protesters at Lakemba Mosque 20 Mar: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was surrounded by protesters yelling
“shame” and “disgrace” during Eid prayers at Lakemba Mosque on Friday morning, forcing him into a rushed escape. Albanese was attending the prayers, held to mark the end of the month of Ramadan. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN (UK)
Nigel Farage condemned over call to ban public prayer for Muslims in the UK 20 Mar: Muslim leaders have condemned Nigel Farage’s call to ban public prayer by Muslims
in the UK as bigoted and warned of a “growing tide of hate” after the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, questioned whether the events fitted “within the norms of British culture”. Read the full article |
| NEWS Pastafarian who wears colander reveals arrest warrant issued by Indonesian police over alleged ‘mocking’ of religion 19 Mar: A man in Queensland who
wears a colander on his head as part of his Pastafarian religion has revealed Indonesian authorities have issued a warrant for his arrest over his alleged “mocking of recognised religions”. Syaban Shadikillah now faces up to five years’ jail in Indonesia. “I think Indonesia is no longer safe for me,” he told A Current Affair, adding his family were “worried” for his safety. Read the full article |
| BBC House of Lords backs bid to decriminalise abortion 19 Mar: Peers in the House of Lords have backed plans to decriminalise abortions, which MPs voted in
favour of last summer. Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi launched her bid to end police investigations into abortion under a 164-year-old Victorian law last year. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN (UK) Scottish parliament votes against legalising assisted dying 18 Mar: The Scottish parliament has voted against legalising assisted dying
after critics and religious groups led a concerted campaign to block the measures. Members of the Scottish parliament voted 69 to 57 to reject the proposals in a late night vote on Tuesday – a larger margin than expected. Read the full
article |
| ABC Young people particularly vulnerable to cults post-COVID17 Mar: Cult expert Raphael Aron believes the number of people joining cults since COVID has increased, with young
adults the most vulnerable age group. "Cults give people a sense of certainty. COVID uprooted that certainty in many people's lives, they didn't know what was going on from one day to the other," he said. Read the full
article |
| UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND Calls for equal access to voluntary assisted dying using telehealth 16 Mar: Telehealth could vastly improve access to voluntary
assisted dying in Australia and address a significant health inequity, University of Queensland-led research has found. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN (UK) National Secular Society to launch court action over public funding for bible colleges 16 Mar: The National Secular Society says it is
preparing to pursue the Office for Students through the courts to act on complaints first made five years ago, arguing that the colleges are ineligible for public funding or government-backed student loans because of their commitment to theological doctrine. Read the full article |
| THE AGE Inquiry into Brethren election involvement calls on Dutton to appear15 Mar: The federal parliamentary committee investigating the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church’s
intervention in the federal election wants to hear from Peter Dutton and the reviewers who described the Liberal Party campaign as the worst ever. Evidence already gathered from more than 300 submissions and a number of public hearings suggests much of the troubling conduct towards voters can be traced to church members. Read the full article |
| DAILY TELEGRAPH Blacktown City Council votes to expand multi-faith prayer to include more religions27 Feb: A Western Sydney council has unanimously voted to expand opening prayers at
meetings beyond Christian and Muslim faiths to reflect its residents from over 180 nationalities. On Wednesday, Blacktown council voted to include prayers from religions into Sikhism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, instead of reciting only Christian or Muslim prayers. Read the full article |
At the opening of each day when Western Australia’s parliament is in session, the Speaker in the Legislative Assembly calls on God to “direct and prosper all our consultations to the advancement of thy glory”, and recites the Lord’s Prayer. Calls are growing for the parliament to modernise its practices. What do you think?
Email your comments to: editor@rationalist.com.au |
| IN DAILY ‘Unelectable’: Liberal insider says controversial candidates are not alone
Helen Karakulak: A Liberal insider told InDaily Carson Woodhouse is just one of a
range of candidates recruited from similar right-leaning religious communities spearheaded by Liberal senator Alex Antic. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN SA election: Experts fear powerful lobby groups could pick up the tab and dominate the discourse
Tory Shepherd: A number of organisations have registered as
third parties in time for the ballot, meaning they can raise and spend funds, but disclosure deadlines mean the full amounts will not be known until after polling day. Among them are the rightwing lobbyists Turning Point Australia, the anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe, the Australian Christian Lobby, the progressive lobbying group GetUp, various unions and the former Liberal MP Christopher Pyne. Read the full article |
| THE AGE Renee Heath stresses loyalty to her party after One Nation hold meeting at family-linked venue
Daniella White, et al: With the preselection vote looming on the
weekend, some Liberals are already speculating about the possibility that Renee Heath could defect should she lose her spot. The fact Renee and her father are among members of the local One Nation-linked Facebook group hasn’t exactly helped quieten those rumours. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION What does One Nation actually believe in?
Kurt Sengul and Jordan McSwiney: If One Nation wants to position itself as a serious force, a key challenge will
be putting together coherent and substantive suite of policy proposals to take to voters. This is critical to shifting from a minor party of grievance to a mainstream political party. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION Who should determine the limits of free speech? From Royal Commission to public deliberation
Ron Levy, et al: The most pressing but, thus far, elusive
question commissioners will have to tackle is where to draw the line of acceptable speech regulation, who should draw it and how to apply abstract principles to specific contexts. Read the full article |
| SBS Australians' personal data could soon be accessible by US agencies. Here's why
Sydney Lang: If enacted, the changes would allow US agencies to access the personal data
of any Australian travelling to the US — including their passport and ID information, facial images, fingerprints and police and immigration records. Some experts have warned that it may also extend to non-travellers. Read the full
article |
| ABC RADIO Could Christian Democrats reshape US politics?
Christian Democrats in the US are making a major pitch to win religious votes. Even with growing secularism, the US still
has a big Christian majority and, for 40 years, Democrats have struggled to win their trust. But ahead of congressional elections in November, several white protestant clergy have announced they're running for the Democrats. Listen to the
full episode |
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