The Rationalist Society of Australia welcomes the Australian Army’s removal of a controversial Christian ‘Crusader’ emblem from the uniform of its chaplaincy branch, but says much more secular reform is needed in the military.
The Royal Australian Army Chaplains Department has replaced its longstanding Christian and Jewish badges with a newly designed single badge, and has displayed the new one on its website.
The Christian badge that was previously used and worn by Christian Army chaplains featured the motto “In this Sign Conquer” inlaid over a Maltese Cross, while the Jewish version featured the Star of David.
The Army Chaplains Department’s new badge depicts a shepherd’s hook, book and globe.
The change comes more than 10 years since Defence initially said it would remove the emblem from Christian chaplains’ uniforms due to its connotations with the Crusades, only for the then coalition government to block the move in response to media reports.
In 2023, the RSA questioned the Albanese government’s Defence ministers about the appropriateness of Army chaplains continuing to wear these badges as part of their formal uniform. In a letter to ministers Richard Marles and Matt Keogh, the RSA argued the wearing of such emblems also raised potential security threats to Army personnel operating in foreign countries, especially in the Middle East.
In 2021, Army Colonel Phillip Hoglin wrote that the Defence Force needed to undertake secular reform, highlighting among his reasons the risks of the Australian Defence Force being perceived as a Christian military when operating in conflict zones.
Speaking today, RSA Executive Director Si Gladman said the change was a step in the right direction for the Army.
However, he said the Army – and the wider Defence Force – needed to undertake much more secular reform in order to reflect modern Australia and to meet the wellbeing needs of its majority non-religious workforce.
“This is a welcome step in the right direction for the military. But we are urging the Defence Force to undertake much-needed, broader secular reform,” he said.
The Army and Air Force still do not provide a non-religious frontline wellbeing support/pastoral care option for its personnel, opting instead to rely on exclusively religious chaplains, who are sourced increasingly from Pentecostal and evangelical churches , and are required to have theology degrees.
The most recent Defence Census data – released in late 2024 – show that 61 per cent of Defence personnel identify as not religious, and with the trend away from religion continuing to surge.
As reported by the RSA over a number of years, several faith leaders and chaplains involved in delivering the chaplaincy capability in the Defence Force view the role of Defence chaplains as a “missionary” one.
Since 2022, due to the advocacy of the RSA, Minister Keogh and Army and Air Force chiefs have said they would examine the lessons of Navy’s secular wellbeing officers and consider contemporising frontline wellbeing support capabilities.
Yet, the Defence Force has not confirmed yet whether secular reform of Army’s and Air Force’s chaplaincy capabilities will take place.
Neither Minister Keogh nor the Chief of Personnel, Lieutenant General Natasha Fox, have responded to questions from the RSA during the past 12 months on when the Defence Force would finally provide all non-religious personnel with the option of accessing secular and non-religious frontline wellbeing support.
As the RSA reported in 2024, a Defence review of Navy’s secular wellbeing support roles – introduced under former Navy Director-General of Chaplaincy and now RSA board member Collin Acton in 2020 – found “strong demand” among personnel for the secular roles.
Last year, the RSA, supported by a number of other organisations, raised this issue as an example of discrimination against non-religious people in a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) (fourth cycle) into Australia’s human rights.
The Rationalist Society of Australia is actively lobbying and advocating for secular reform of the Defence Force. See the latest updates here.
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Si Gladman is Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. He also hosts ‘The Secular Agenda’ podcast.
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