Religious clerics who have spent years calling for ‘religious freedom’ laws have again declined to advocate for the fundamental right of non-religious people and elected representatives to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
The controversial New South Wales Faith Affairs Council has informed the Rationalist Society of Australia that it would not be taking action in support of non-religious councillors who are discriminated against and excluded from full participation in public life because of the imposition of religious prayers in local governments.
In a letter, Anglican Bishop and chair of the Faith Affairs Council Michael Stead (pictured) said the advisory body was established as a consultative mechanism for the NSW government to “improve [the government’s] understanding and competency in relation to policies, programs and services that affect religious communities and people of faith in New South Wales”.
He said that, as the committee’s scope was limited to that consultative role, its position on the matter of imposed prayers in government institutions had remained “unchanged” since the RSA previously urged it to take action in regards to the state parliament’s practice of opening each day with acts of Christian worship.
“It would be more appropriate for you to raise this issue with the NSW Government,” he said.
In January this year, the RSA wrote to the 19-member 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.
As the RSA has reported, non-religious councillors at the Oberon Council have been forced to remove themselves from meetings after the council decided to impose Christian prayers at the opening of proceedings.
At the time, Dr Stead responded to say the committee would consider the matter at its February meeting. However, he later reported that the committee had “ran out of time to reach a conclusion” and would revisit the issue in May.
The RSA had asked the Faith Affairs Council to: write to the Oberon Council to urge it to stop imposing acts of religious worship in its meetings; and 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.
RSA Executive Director Si Gladman had argued that 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.
Mr Gladman had noted that the Buddhist representative on the Faith Affairs Council, Gawaine Powell Davies, had previously strongly advocated for the removal of discriminatory religious practices in local council meetings.
The Faith Affairs Council has showed a pattern of ignoring the fundamental rights of non-religious people, declining multiple requests from the RSA for it to take action.
Many of the committee’s members, however, have long been campaigning for Australian government’s to enact ‘religious freedom’ laws.
Dr Stead hosts a podcast called ‘Freedom Matters’ for the Freedom for Faith advocacy group, with the focus of the podcast “examining the religious freedom threats around Australia”. His co-host is Monica Doumit, who is the Catholic Church representative on the Faith Affairs Council.
As the RSA has previously revealed, the Faith Affairs Council has declared its support for “secular democracy based on state neutrality towards religion” and that “makes space for people of all faiths and none”. It has also committed to the New South Wales’ 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 RSA has also reported on how the NSW Faith Affairs Council has used its privileged position to: pursue narrow religious interests for the benefit of religious communities; influence government policy in a wide range of areas; and request state and federal government funding for faith-based projects.
When the Minns government established the body in 2023, it rejected the application of a non-religious community leader on the basis of his non-religious affiliation. The RSA had repeatedly warned the state’s multiculturalism minister, Steve Kamper, that the faith-based advisory body would privilege the already powerful voices of religious clerics even further in policy making and marginalise the voices of non-religious citizens.
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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