RSA Weekly Sunday 15 March 2026 Hi , The New South Wales Law Reform Commission is currently reviewing the state's Anti-Discrimination Act 1977. As part of the review, the Commission has received many public
submissions – including from the Rationalist Society of Australia – calling for the removal of religious schools’ exemptions to discrimination laws. Yet, Premier Chris Minns has now told parliament's budget estimates hearings that he does not support removing these exemptions. And the state's Attorney-General says he agrees with the Premier (see the video). 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 RSA questions education minister over teaching of religious
stories in science classes11 Mar: The Rationalist Society of Australia has asked the federal education minister whether his department will be investigating to determine the extent of the problem of taxpayer-funded religious schools teaching religious stories as science. In a letter to Minister Jason Clare earlier this month, the RSA said it was “alarmed” to discover several examples of faith-based schools including religious stories in
their science classes and suggested it may be a widespread problem. Read the full article |
| HERALD SUN Heartbreaking rule denying regional access to VAD15 Mar: Despite qualifying for voluntary assisted dying Helena Hammer's husband Patrick died slowly in hospital because a
section of the Commonwealth Criminal Code prevented the script from being submitted online. Read the full article |
| SKY NEWS Freedom of religion is being threatened by political extremes 13 Mar: South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas warns freedom of religion is being
threatened by political extremes. “We see these extremes seeking to denigrate one faith over the other. It’s at the expense of the concept of freedom of religion. I just don’t think it’s that hard,” he said. Read the full article |
| ABC
SA Liberal candidate no longer running for party after podcast comments 12 Mar: A Liberal candidate in South Australia has been disendorsed for telling an American evangelical
Christian podcast that "feminism is demonic" and "same-sex marriage isn't real". Carston Woodhouse, who was the party's endorsed candidate for the seat of Wright, also said that Islam is “poisonous and wrong," and said he wanted people to understand the "insanity of the trans agenda." Read the full article |
| THE AGE Girl returned to killer parents despite ‘cult’ warning 12 Mar: A little girl was killed by her parents after being returned home by authorities
despite concerns from medical experts over her family’s extreme religious beliefs, a coroner has heard. Eight-year-old Elizabeth Rose Struhs died on January 7, 2022, at her family’s home near Toowoomba. Read the full
article |
| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES Texas blocks Islamic schools from $1 billion programme that helps pay student tuition 12 Mar: A fierce legal battle has
erupted in Texas after state officials effectively disqualified Islamic private schools from participating in a landmark $1bn voucher scheme. The programme, intended to expand educational options for low-income families and those with children requiring special needs, has become a lightning rod for accusations of religious discrimination. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN ‘A few beatings won’t kill you’: Judge rejects divorce request of woman abused by husband in Afghanistan12 Mar: The shocking level of physical violence against
women permitted under the Taliban’s new laws has been revealed this week by the case of a woman in northern Afghanistan, who said she was beaten with a cable wire by her husband and told by a judge: "A little anger and a few beatings won’t kill you." Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Muslim community in shock after police opt not to arrest man accused of crashing Ballarat iftar dinner 11 Mar: A Muslim community is reeling
after police opted not to immediately arrest a man accused of crashing an iftar dinner and hurling racist abuse. The 37-year-old man forced his way into an iftar dinner gathering at a community hall in Ballarat. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN (US) Washington cardinal says US war on Iran ‘not morally legitimate’11 Mar: Cardinal Robert W McElroy, the archbishop of Washington DC, has said that the US-Israeli war
with Iran is “not morally legitimate”, going further than the pope has done in his more moderate appeals for an end to the war. Read the full article |
| INDEPENDENT EDUCATION UNION Unacceptable religious discrimination exemptions must go10 Mar: IEU members have renewed their calls to reform outdated and harmful religious
discrimination exemptions that permit faith-based employers to discriminate against staff. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN (UK) Definition of anti-Muslim hate will not harm free speech, says Steve Reed10 Mar: A new definition of anti-Muslim hate will not restrict freedom of speech, the
communities secretary has pledged, as he said that “clear expectations” will still be set for new arrivals and existing communities in Britain to learn English. Read the full article |
| NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY (UK) Prosecution guidance includes circumcision for first time6 Mar: New Crown Prosecution Service guidance on offences against the person includes male
circumcision for the first time. The inclusion comes after successful advocacy from the National Secular Society, which campaigns to protect all children from non-therapeutic genital cutting. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Labor abandons freedom of information law changes that would have reduced transparency5 Mar: The Labor government has dumped its controversial changes to the freedom of
information request system, which would have imposed new fees and further reduced transparency, after admitting it had no pathway to passing the parliament. Shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, called the government backdown “a win for democracy”. Read the full article |
Appearing at a budget estimates hearing earlier this month, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said he did not support removing religious schools’ exemptions to the state’s discrimination laws. Days later, the state’s Attorney-General Michael Daley said he had “no view” on the matter but “wholeheartedly” agreed with the Premier. What do you think? Email
your comments to: editor@rationalist.com.au |
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| RATIONALE The challenge of Chinese communist
historiography Paul Monk: Dikötter has just written and published the fifth in his series on the impact of communism on China. The key to this new book is that it takes the reader back into the decades before the Communist Party seized power in 1949. That era is often depicted as a kind of heroic ‘Robin Hood’ era of the party. It was no such thing. Read the full article |
| OUT IN PERTH Christian Lobby warns of “unintended consequences” in conversion therapy banBrian Greig: Recently the Australian Christian Lobby met with WA Attorney
General, Tony Buti, to discuss Conversion Practices. Issuing a media release about this, the ACL said it was pleased with the hearing it got, and conveyed their concerns to the AG that proposed legislation to ban conversion practices might be “Victorian style” and thus have “unintended consequences”. Read the full article |
| FREETHINKER Women’s Blasphemy and the StateMaryam Namazie: Blasphemous. Corrupt. Apostate. Kafir. These words are always defined from the perspective of the religious.
The religious lens is treated as neutral, as default. Blasphemy is assumed to be harm, at best offensive, at worst a threat to morality, stability, and even national security. Read the full article |
| PEARLS & IRRITATIONS The Age of Lies and the threat to civilisationJulian Cribb: Whether generated by governments, the fossil fuels lobby, corrupt media, corporate
interests, the anti-science lobby, religious fanatics, extremist politicians and ideologues, well-meaning simpletons or nutcase conspiracists, a global deluge of utter nonsense is rapidly swallowing the human species. The flood is aided and abetted by social media and augmented by the proliferation of AI fakery that is now drowning the Internet. Read the full article |
| INDEPENDENT AUSTRALIA When religion becomes a political weapon, everyone losesMohamed Elbaikam: Faith should not be excluded from public life, nor turned into a badge of
power. It should remain, in its best form, a discipline of conscience, a source of humility, a language of mercy and a call to restrain the worst impulses within us. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION Some conservative Christians interpret the conflict through biblical propheciesShalom Goldman: As the American and Israeli war with Iran unfolds, some
American Christians are speaking of the conflict in biblical terms, mapping end-time prophecies on to current events in the Middle East. This type of apocalyptic thought has roots in the 19th century, when many American preachers turned toward more literal readings of the Bible. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION ‘We’re the good guys’: why moral storytelling doesn’t make the war on Iran necessary or legalTamer Morris: Once states are permitted to act on their own
sense of morality and justice, the international system goes down an extremely dangerous road. Every state can consider itself the “good” actor in its own story. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN ‘A very dangerous person’: alarm as Pete Hegseth revels in carnage of Iran war
David Smith: With machismo, Christian nationalism and callousness toward the
lives of US troops, critics say, Hegseth’s puerile displays on TV are aimed at sating Trump’s desire for a warmonger worthy of the manosphere. Read the full article |
| ABC RADIO Pope Leo calls for peace in the Middle East
As Israel and the United States continue their war with Iran, even promising to assassinate the new and hardline ayatollah,
Pope Leo has emerged as a champion of international law. He’s called for an immediate ceasefire. Tens of millions of people maybe hearing him, but does the leadership in Jerusalem, Washington and Tehran care? Listen to the full episode |
| PEARLS & IRRITATIONS Australia’s multicultural success cannot be taken for granted
John Menadue: The Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural
Affairs recently suggested that children attending faith-based schools should mix with children outside their faith. A third of our students attend faith-based schools. This is a problem, for example, with some Jewish schools that highlight loyalty to Israel as much as or even more important than loyalty to multicultural Australia. Read the full article |
| PEARLS & IRRITATIONS Antisemitism: “It’s a trick. We always use it.”
Peter Slezak: In the present circumstances of a genocide, the obvious reason for a tidal wave of
panic about antisemitism is that the efforts to deny Israel’s vast crimes is not working. Everyone can see the truth on their mobile phones. Read the full article |
| FREETHINKER (UK) Cohesion strategy: Fine words on free speech – but still too timid on religion
Stephen Evans: The Government has published its long-awaited social cohesion
strategy. Refreshingly, it does not shy away from the role religion can play in undermining cohesion. The document identifies Islamist extremism as a predominant threat, highlights rising tensions between and within faith groups, and acknowledges that extremists are targeting national and local institutions. Read the full article |
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