A controversial advisory body of religious clerics appointed by the New South Wales government will this week decide whether to speak up for the fundamental rights of non-religious people to freedom of thought, conscience and religion in responding to community concerns about the imposition of prayers in local governments.
The chair of the NSW Faith Affairs Council has confirmed to the Rationalist Society of Australia that, at its meeting tomorrow, the body intended to discuss the case of non-religious councillors facing religious-based discrimination at Oberon Council.
Last month, the RSA wrote to the Faith Affairs Council to urge it to stand up for the fundamental rights of Australians to freedom of thought, conscience and religion by advocating for Oberon Council to stop imposing acts of religious worship in its meetings.
At this month’s Oberon general council meeting, being held on 17 February, a number of non-religious councillors will face making a decision to either physically exclude themselves from formal proceedings or conform to their council’s imposed religious practices – in direct contradiction to their own deeply-held beliefs.
As reported by the RSA in December, Oberon council ignored the pleas of non-religious councillors, including Ian Tucker, and ruled that Christian prayers would be held at the opening of its meetings. But it introduced a “possible concession” that would allow councillors to “remove themselves” if they did not wish to participate in the council’s religious activities.
In the letter to the 19-member Faith Affairs Council, RSA Executive Director Si Gladman called on the advisory body to write to the Oberon Council to urge it to stop imposing acts of religious worship in its meetings, and to ask the Minns government to ensure that no councillors would face such discrimination and barriers to full participation on the basis of their religious or non-religious beliefs.
In reply, the chair of the Faith Affairs Council, Right Reverend Michael Stead (pictured), Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, said he intended to put the matter on the agenda for the advisory body’s next meeting on 5 February.
In the RSA’s letter, Mr Gladman said the imposition of religion in government institutions was completely at odds with Australia’s international commitments to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, such as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“We’re deeply troubled to see acts of religious worship being imposed against the will of many elected representatives, staff and members of the public as part of formal meetings in local governments across New South Wales,” he wrote.
“The imposition of religious worship in local government meetings is divisive in the community and undermines social cohesion.”
Mr Gladman also noted that at least one of the members of the Faith Affairs Council, Buddhist leader Gawaine Powell Davies, had previously strongly advocated for the removal of discriminatory religious practices in local council meetings.
As reported by the RSA in 2021, Powell Davies told the Shoalhaven Council – where a Buddhist councillor was calling for removal of Christian worship – that Australia was a country “with no established religion and many faiths”, and urged that council to be “welcoming to people of all faiths and backgrounds”.
Mr Gladman told the members of the Faith Affairs Council that the RSA was “deeply concerned” that Councillor Tucker and some of his non-religious colleagues at Oberon may have no option but to exclude themselves at the 17 February meeting.
“Far from tempering discrimination, Oberon Council’s new provision to allow councillors to remove themselves from the chamber would only lead to heightened feelings of isolation, exclusion, and stigmatisation for those people,” wrote Mr Gladman.
The RSA has previously called for the Faith Affairs Council to advocate for the equal rights of non-religious people, but it has declined to do so.
When the Minns government established the body in 2023, the government rejected the application of a non-religious community leader on the basis of his non-religious affiliation, while at the same time expanding the membership of religious clerics from the originally planned 16 to 19 members. The RSA had repeatedly warned the multiculturalism minister, Steve Kamper, that a faith-based advisory body that would privilege the already powerful voices of religious clerics even further in policy making and marginalise the voices of non-religious citizens.
The RSA has previously revealed, based on documents obtained under freedom of information laws, that the Faith Affairs Council has declared its support for secular democracy that “makes space for people of all faiths and none”. It has also committed to the state’s Multicultural Principles, which include providing “all individuals in New South Wales, irrespective of their religious backgrounds” with the “greatest possible opportunity to contribute to, and participate in, all aspects of public life”.
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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