RSA Weekly: Sunday 25 January 2026

Published: Sat, 01/24/26

RSA Weekly

Sunday 25 January 2026

Hi ,

Consider this: the overwhelming feedback given in a two-year public consultation process supported removal of the bias from the Census religion question; the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) agreed to the need for the change so as to enhance “accuracy, relevance and inclusivity”, and proposed a newly worded question; then initial testing of the new question found it was “the most successful question” and “tested sufficiently”; and then the ABS comprehensively rejected the concerns of religious lobbyists about the proposed changes.

So how on earth did we end up in a situation where the ABS felt it could not adopt the new religion question for the 2026 Census?

Well, through documents that we obtained under freedom of information laws, and through other sources, we’ve pieced the picture together. See our top story. Then, if you’re up for a long read, see the first installment of our The Census Files series on our Rationale website.

Also, we'll be following proceedings at the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review in Geneva this week. The Australian delegation will be appearing on 26 January. We hope UN member nations will raise our concerns about discrimination against non-religious people. We'll keep you posted.

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

News from the RSA

RSA

Albanese govt’s delays torpedoed critical test of new Census religion question, analysis shows
24 Jan: The Albanese government missed deadlines and delayed responding to multiple “urgent” requests from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, leading to the cancellation of a major test that was to be critical in determining whether the agency adopted a newly formulated religion question for the 2026 Census. The Rationalist Society of Australia can reveal that it took about six weeks for Andrew Leigh, the responsible minister for the Census, to respond to the ABS’ initial urgent request in mid 2024 for the government’s decision on the topics that it wanted included in the 2026 Census. Read the full article

RSA

Religious charities could face regulatory action over coercive control, regulator tells RSA
20 Jan: Religious charities found to have engaged in illegal activity under any new state laws targeting coercive control and harmful activity in cults and high-demand groups could face regulatory action and have their charitable status revoked, the nation’s charities regulator has confirmed. In a letter to the Rationalist Society of Australia, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission said it “may review whether a charity meets the requirements for registration” if a Basic Religious Charity breached laws related to addressing coercive control. Read the full article

News from elsewhere

THE GUARDIAN

Science teachers from Queensland schools told to teach students about dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark

25 Jan: Teachers employed by a large group of Queensland Christian schools were told to teach creationism in science classes, including that vegetarian baby dinosaurs would have been taken aboard Noah’s Ark. Read the full article

ABC

Australian Neo-Nazis use symbols that may evade hate speech laws

24 Jan: The Neo-Nazi National Socialist Network (NSN) may claim to have disbanded in response to the government's new hate speech laws, however, some former NSN leaders have vowed online that "National Socialism is inevitable" and are likely to again attend anti-immigration rallies planned for Australia Day. Read the full article

ABC

Letter sent to Lakemba Mosque threatening violence on Australia Day

23 Jan: Police are investigating an "absolutely abhorrent" letter sent to a Sydney mosque threatening the death of Middle Eastern and Aboriginal Australians and political figures. The Lebanese Muslim Association, which owns the Lakemba Mosque in Sydney's south-west, said the letter addressed to "The Mullah" was found on Thursday. Read the full article

ABC

Who is the Neo-Nazi who was booed at Hobart's March for Australia rally?
23 Jan: The organisers of the March for Australia rallies say they "are in no way concerned by the presence" of members of the National Socialist Network at their events. The ABC can reveal a man who was booed off stage at last year's Hobart event is believed to be a leader within the state's Neo-Nazi movement. Read the full article

ABC

Regional NSW principal to stand aside amid antisemitism investigation
23 Jan: The principal of an Islamic school in regional NSW will stand aside amid an investigation into accusations of antisemitism. The New Madinah College in Young and its principal, Sheikh Abdulghani Albaf, have been the subject of a federal and state government investigation over the past year relating to alleged antisemitic comments. Read the full article

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

PM leads tributes to Australian Jews at Bondi memorial
22 Jan: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “deeply and profoundly sorry” for not protecting Australia’s Jewish community, in a landmark speech at a national memorial event for the 15 people killed in the Bondi massacre. Read the full article

PEW RESEARCH

Catholicism Has Declined in Latin America Over the Past Decade
21 Jan: The Catholic share of the population in several Latin American countries has shrunk over the last 10 years, while a growing percentage of Latin American adults are religiously unaffiliated, describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” Read the full article

ABC

New hate laws have passed parliament. What do they actually do?

21 Jan: Parliament has just passed the toughest federal hate speech laws in Australia's history. Labor has been open that the legislation is primarily aimed at tackling "hate groups" that promote antisemitism — and that revisiting the laws to include other minority groups is not a priority. Read the full article

ABC

Jewish leaders call for vilification offence to be revisited as Coalition splits over watered-down hate laws
21 Jan: Jewish groups say racial vilification laws should be revisited in the future after Labor abandoned the most contentious element of its legislative response to the Bondi terror attack to secure the support of a resistant opposition. Labor's hate law reform passed the Senate late last night with the support of the Liberal Party but not the Nationals. Read the full article

THE GUARDIAN

Criticism of Netanyahu may be an offence under new hate speech laws, Greens claim
21 Jan: The Greens have claimed Labor’s newly passed hate speech bill could criminalise reasonable expressions of contempt or ridicule by individuals and groups, and see critics of the government of Israel targeted for prosecution. Read the full article

ABC RADIO

Samoa's former leader say PM doesn't have power to restrict religious freedom
20 Jan: Former longtime prime minister, now opposition leader, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi says the government doesn't have the numbers or public support to alter the constitution and restrict freedom of religion. Current prime minister Minister Laaulialemalietoa Schmidt has proposed to ban non-Christian religions. Listern to the full episode

ABC

China ramps up crackdown on Christians amid global political pressures
20 Jan: A leading Christian non-profit has warned that the official persecution of believers is intensifying in China after major raids and arrests of church leaders and congregants in recent months. Last week, Open Doors International named China among the worst countries to be a Christian in its annual World Watch List. Read the full article

CATHOLIC WEEKLY

Governor-General affirms faith communities’ role after Bondi attack
20 Jan: Governor-General of Australia Sam Mostyn AO reached out to the nation’s faith groups, hosting a dinner for leaders of various religious traditions at her residence in Sydney. The gathering was co-chaired by the NSW Faith Affairs Council and Better Balanced Futures, a lobby group for scripture in public schools. Read the full article

THE AGE

Brisbane’s Catholic schools top nation for cost of education: report

14 Jan: Small costs adding up across the year have put Catholic and private schooling in Brisbane among the most expensive in the country, a report has found. Brisbane’s Catholic schools have, on average, eclipsed other capital cities to be the priciest in the nation across a student’s 13 years. Read the full article

THE GUARDIAN (UK)

Circumcision classed as possible child abuse in draft CPS document

10 Jan: Circumcision is to be classed as a potential form of child abuse under new guidance for prosecutors, amid concerns from judges and coroners about deaths and serious harms caused by the procedure. Read the full article

Opinion / Analysis

RATIONALE

The Census Files: When the bishops pushed back (Part 1)

Si Gladman: The government’s need for information about the ABS' work on the religion question became evident within days of the email to the Treasury Department, as a powerful special interest group, the Catholic Church, launched a public campaign calling for the government to intervene. Read the full article

RATIONALE

Can Australia be a credible voice for religious and belief rights internationally?

Si Gladman: In modern-day Australia, it is surely unjustifiable that non-religious people experience second-class treatment and alienation in many government institutions and programs. To be a credible advocate for religious and belief rights internationally, Australia must address the discriminatory and unfair treatment of non-religious citizens at home. Read the full article

THE GUARDIAN

Labor’s vague and ill-conceived hate speech laws risk undermining Australia’s democracy

Timothy Roberts: We cannot have criminal laws on our books that the community does not understand. This sort of ambiguous expansion of executive power without reasonable checks and balances only undermines the rule of law. Read the full article

THE GUARDIAN

Who will bear the brunt of Labor’s hate speech laws? The government has failed to give a clear answer
Luke McNamara: Organisers of Palestinian solidarity protests across Australia are rightly wondering: is all this for us? Are we at risk of being labelled a prohibited “hate group” if we engage in legitimate criticism of Israel or the actions of the Israeli government? The words coming from senior figures the wake of the passage of the new laws are hardly reassuring. Read the full article

THE GUARDIAN (UK)

If the assisted dying bill is killed off by the Lords, let that be the end for this unelected chamber
Polly Toynbee: The assisted dying bill is about to die, killed off by a small coterie of peers against the will of the House of Commons and voters who have supported the right to die for decades. Can the government let this happen? If the Lords block this, it should be their last gasp. Their outrageous behaviour illuminates everything grotesque about the upper house. Read the full article

ABC RADIO

Faith has become policy in Samoa
From Sunday construction bans to mandated prayer in government offices, Samoa's leaders are doubling down on public expressions of Christianity and not everyone is comfortable. Reverend Dr Sam Amosa from the Centre for Samoan Studies in Samoa helps unpack what these moves mean for everyday Samoans, belief, belonging, and the future of church and state. Listen to the full episode

ABC RADIO

AI, ethics, and human identity: the new religious frontier
As the Vatican seeks to harness social media to spread its message, others are warning that artificial intelligence poses a huge challenge to all religion. Could AI even be a rival to faith, projecting itself as a source of wisdom that’s neither human nor divine? Listen to the full episode

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