The Albanese government has rejected a request for it to remove daily acts of Christian worship from the houses of the national parliament.
In a letter to the Rationalist Society of Australia this week, Patrick Gorman MP, the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, said that the government acknowledged parliament needed to “represent a diverse Australian community” but that it did “not propose to seek a change to existing arrangements”.
In the letter (see below), Mr Gorman said the recitation of Christian prayers was a long-standing tradition in the Australian Parliament.
“Shortly after Standing Orders were adopted in the first Australian Parliament in 1901, they were amended to require prayer-reading at the start of each sitting day in both Houses of Parliament. Since that time, there have been several debates about the suitability of retaining these prayers,” he said.
“There are competing views about the suitability of retaining prayers in the Parliament, and the Parliament needs to strike a balance between its traditions and heritage and the need to represent a diverse Australian community.
“Recognising this, the Government does not propose to seek a change to existing arrangements.”
The letter came in response to the RSA’s direct call to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in May to remove prayers or replace them with practices that are secular, more welcoming for all, more unifying, and more reflective of our modern and diverse Australia.
RSA Executive Director Si Gladman wrote to Mr Albanese after the Prime Minister, soon after his government’s re-elected, told a podcast he supported the principle of separation of church and state.
Mr Gladman had noted the growing momentum for change on this issue across the country, with a number of Labor MPs having called for change and with many local governments having also changed their practices in recent years.
The RSA has since highlighted the issue as an example of discriminatory and unfair treatment against non-religious Australians as part of a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Australia’s human rights.
Speaking today, Mr Gladman said the Albanese government’s response would be bitterly disappointing to many Australians and, in particular, many Labor voters who value human rights and the principle of separation of church and state.
“While federal Labor appears to support the imposition of daily acts of Christian worship on non-religious people and people of all kinds of faith backgrounds, this is a matter for all parliamentarians to consider. So we hope many other MPs will take up this issue and call for change,” he said.
The RSA will ask the procedures committees of both the House of Representatives and the Senate to hold inquiries into the practice.
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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Image: Anthony Albanese (Facebook)
Letter from Assistant Minister Patrick Gorman, 10 September 2025
Dear Mr Gladman
Thank you for your letter dated 20 May 2025 to the Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister, regarding Christian prayers in the Standing Orders for the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Prime Minister has asked me to reply on his behalf.
The recitation of Christian prayers is a long-standing tradition in the Australian Parliament, and in Parliaments in the Westminster tradition more generally. Shortly after Standing Orders were adopted in the first Australian Parliament in 1901, they were amended to require prayer-reading at the start of each sitting day in both Houses of Parliament. Since that time, there have been several debates about the suitability of retaining these prayers.
The most recent change was in the Senate in October 2022 with the introduction of a statement of invitation before the prayers to ‘pray or reflect in your own way on your responsibilities to the people of Australia and to future generations’. In addition, in 2010, the start of the day in both Houses was altered to commence with an ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ before the prayers.
There are competing views about the suitability of retaining prayers in the Parliament, and the Parliament needs to strike a balance between its traditions and heritage and the need to represent a diverse Australian community. Recognising this, the Government does not propose to seek a change to existing arrangements.
You have signalled your intention to raise this matter in a submission to the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (Fourth Cycle) into Australia’s human rights. The Government will publicly consult on this Periodic Review. The Rationalist Society of Australia will have the opportunity to participate in this consultation process which will commence later this year. Details of the consultation process will be on the Attorney-General’s Department website.
Thank you again for bringing your concerns to the Prime Minister’s attention and I trust this information will be of assistance. I have copied this letter to the Prime Minister and the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, Attorney-General.
Yours sincerely
Patrick Gorman