The Victorian government has remained silent on its failure so far to deliver its long-overdue promise of removing daily acts of Christian worship from the state parliament.

Asked in May to provide an update to the parliament on the progress being made in developing a replacement for the Lord’s Prayer, the Allan government has, more than one month after the due date, not yet provided a response.

Also, the Rationalist Society of Australia has not received answers from government leaders to its inquiries on this matter.

It has been 1461 days since the then attorney-general, Jaclyn Symes, gave a commitment that the Labor government would, in the 2022-2026 term of parliament, “workshop a replacement model that is purpose-fit for Victoria”. 

In May this year, Georgie Purcell (pictured), a member of the Legislative Council, said the government was “running out of excuses” for having not delivered on its promise and asked the government to provide an update.

Speaking on ABC radio this week (listen to the full interview), Purcell said the Australia Capital Territory’s Legislative Assembly provided a model for Victoria to follow. In the 1990s, the ACT replaced Christian prayers with a moment for members of parliament to reflect or pray in silence at the opening of proceedings each day.

“We could have a very long conversation about all of the things that the government have committed to doing and have not yet done. And, in their minds, I understand that this is probably one of the least important ones of all the commitments that they’ve made. But we do think that it is important. It is symbolic and it’s actually really, really simple,” said Purcell, of the Animal Justice Party.

“The precedent is already there… The ACT has done it. There’s no reason why they can’t decide soon – particularly before this term is over and before we go through this debate all over again in the next parliament.

“This is something that they said they’d do. It has a wide range of support across the community. In 2021, a range of faith organisations – including Christian organisations – actually wrote to the government and said: ‘We support this change.’ The solution is there. They just need to commit to prioritising it.”

In the ABC interview on Wednesday, Purcell said about half of the upper house’s members, including some from the government, waited outside the chamber while the prayers were recited. 

She argued that the ACT model was an inclusive option that acknowledged the diversity of the community.

“I think that’s a really, really great option because it dispels of the idea that by removing the Lord’s Prayer we’re rejecting a certain faith, or Christianity in particular,” she said.

“We’re just saying that everyone who holds a faith or no faith can observe it in their own way. So for those members … who do observe Christianity, there’s no reason why they can’t pray the Lord’s Prayer or another prayer to the god that they worship silently or under their breath in their own way.”

Last year, the Allan government appeared to back down from its commitment in the face of pressure by religious groups and a campaign by the Australian Christian Lobby and supported by a number of Liberal MPs including Moira Deeming and John Pesutto.

Purcell, who was elected to parliament at the 2022 state election, has become a champion for secular causes. Earlier this year, she called on the government to remove the ability of taxpayer-funded religious hospitals to conscientiously object to providing lawful health procedures for women.

In a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council in July, the RSA – supported by a number of non-religious, ex-religious and pro-secular organisations – raised the imposition of daily acts of Christian worship in parliaments and government meetings as an example of discriminatory and unfair treatment against non-religious Australians. 

The Rationalist Society of Australia is actively advocating for prayer rituals to be replaced with more appropriate practices in councils and parliaments. See the latest updates here.

Si Gladman is Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. He also hosts ‘The Secular Agenda’ podcast.

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