Weekend Wrap for 18 August 2024
Welcome to the NSL Weekend Wrap for 18 August 2024, where you can catch up on the latest secular-related news from around the country.
We're saddened to announce the passing of Meg Wallace earlier this week. Meg was president of the Secular Association of NSW (formerly the Rationalist Society of NSW) and a National Secular Lobby committee member. Meg's passion for secularism, humanism and human rights will be sorely missed.
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At the National Level
This year marks five years since Victoria became the first Australian state to implement voluntary assisted dying (VAD). The State of VAD report, released today by Go Gentle Australia has for the first time provided a national snapshot of how those laws are operating. Listen to Dr Linda Swan, CEO of Go Gentle Australia, on ABC Radio National, discussing how the patchwork of different laws across jurisdictions means that not every Australian is given the same access, and a report from SBS News on some people's experience with VAD and what improvements Go Gentle Australia are suggesting might be made to the legislation. (12 Aug 2024)
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has angered both equality advocates and faith groups after abandoning his election promise to introduce religious discrimination reforms and protect LGBTQ students and teachers in a bid to avoid a culture war. The Greens on Tuesday accused Albanese of cowardice, Equality Australia said he had overlooked LGBTQ Australians, and the Australian Christian Lobby said he had let down people of faith after the prime minister confirmed Labor would not seek to resolve the long-running issue in this term of government. (13 Aug 2024)
Read more at The Age
An equality campaigner has called Prime Minister Anthony Albanese "gutless" for abandoning plans to scrap the exemption that allows faith-based schools to discriminate against staff and students on the basis of their gender or sexuality. James Elliot-Watson — who said he was punished by his Christian school for being gay — said he is incensed by Mr Albanese's decision not to proceed with the contentious reform, warning that it will lead to more young LGBTQ+ people being harmed. Labor went to the last election promising to introduce a religious discrimination act to increase protections for people of faith while also ensuring that LGBTQ+ people aren't discriminated against in schools. But last week Mr Albanese said the window to introduce the suite of contentious legislation had passed after previously ruling out proceeding without bipartisan support, dismaying LGBTQ+ and faith groups that have spent years calling for the issue to be resolved. (14 Aug 2024)
Read more at ABC News
The Towards Fairness – a multicultural Australia for all report, released in July as part of the Multicultural Framework Review, argued that governments should foster inclusivity and combat discrimination. The Rationalist Society of Australia is urging the Albanese government to heed the findings of the report, saying that the government’s continued support for reciting Christian prayers each day in parliament is discriminatory and exclusionary, and that governments typically ignore the voices of non-religious people in pursuit of promoting ‘multi-faith’ initiatives. (16 Aug 2024)
Read more at the Rationalist Society of Australia
Around the Country
WA: The names of known child abusers should be published prominently on church websites and the WA government should create a centrally accessible list of all known perpetrators, an inquiry into institutional child sexual abuse has urged. The Community Development and Justice Standing Committee handed down its final report on Thursday after examining the support available to survivors of institutional child abuse. It found the Catholic Church and other religious entities had prioritised their own institutional and financial wellbeing over the needs of those that had been abused by their members. (15 Aug 2024)
Read more at ABC News
WA: The Catholic dioceses of Western Australia – Perth, Bunbury, Geraldton and Broome – issued a joint statement, acknowledging the release of a state parliamentary committee report on support for survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. “The Catholic Dioceses of Western Australia extend their heartfelt and unreserved apology to all those who have suffered the horror of sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy and lay Church workers,” the statement read. “The four dioceses acknowledge the life-long harm and impact of child sexual abuse on victims and survivors perpetrated by people they trusted within the Church." (16 Aug 2024)
Read more at CathNews
Commentary and Analysis
Go Gentle Australia: New report shows VAD laws are fulfilling their promise
"For the first time, analysis of official data from all Australian jurisdictions presents a snapshot of VAD in practice; who is using the laws and what can be improved. More than 2,460 terminally ill Australians have ended their life using voluntary assisted dying (VAD) since end-of-life choice was first legalised, a landmark report from Go Gentle Australia has found. The State of VAD report collates and analyses available VAD data for the first time. It reveals a good news story: Australia’s laws are operating safely within the parameters set out by parliament and are fulfilling their dual aims to offer terminally ill people choice and relieve suffering." (12 Aug 2024)
Read more at Go Gentle Australia
Paul Gregoire: NSW is a Diverse Place, It Doesn’t Need a Catholic School PTA Mindset Running It
"Instead of an expected 8 August 2024 debate on an omnibus bill that seeks to amend over 20 pieces of NSW legislation that continue to discriminate against LGBTIQA+ people and sex workers, NSW Independent for Sydney Alex Greenwich announced that the government had delayed it again. Pride in Protest had told Sydney Criminal Lawyers two days prior that it considered that NSW Labor is trying to avoid passing these reforms, because, in its understanding, some of the amendments appear to be controversial in a morality-based sense, especially when it comes to the NSW premier. ... The Catholic premier, however, did establish the NSW Faith Affairs Council prior to 2023’s end, after having been elected in March that year. And this is a new body of leaders representing the various faiths within the state, with a direct line to the multicultural minister to comment on policy." (13 Aug 2024)
Read more at Sydney Criminal Lawyers
Paul Gregoire: Albanese Abandons the Religious Schools/Discrimination Reforms to the Coalition
"That the PM is laying down and playing dead on this issue is penalising the LGBTQ community, as there are laws on the books that allow them to be treated in a prejudicial manner because of who they are, and Albanese is leaving the laws in this manner as he’s scared of losing the religious vote. ... This action on the part of federal Labor is also banishing the entire public to the potential for a re-elected Coalition, under the leadership of Peter Dutton, to frame how those of faith should be protected and whether he sees fit to protect these teachers and students from persecution." (16 Aug 2024)
Read more at Sydney Criminal Lawyers
Events and Campaigns
Go Gentle Australia have released The State of VAD, a report collating and analysing available VAD data from all jurisdictions for the first time.
Download the report here
The full videos of presentations and panel discussions from the 2023 Secularism Australia Conference are now freely available for viewing on the Secularism Australia website and on YouTube!
The Australia Institute are calling on federal parliament to pass truth in political advertising laws that are nationally consistent, constitutional and uphold freedom of speech. View the petition at The Australia Institute
The Human Rights Law Centre are running a website for those who want to support an Australian Charter of Human Rights & Freedoms.
Visit the Charter of Rights website here
A change.org petition has been started, calling for churches to lose their tax-free status and for "the religious influence of churches in Australian politics and society" to be limited. It's currently up to 31,000 signatures. View the petition at change.org
The Australian Education Union is running a campaign calling for “every school, every child” to receive fair education funding. It's currently up to 95,000 sign-ups. Support the campaign here.
The Human Rights for NSW alliance has launched a campaign calling for NSW to pass a Human Rights Act.
That's it for another week!
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