The Rationalist Society of Australia has urged a West Australian committee to modernise parliamentary practices and replace the daily Christian prayers with something that better reflects the state’s increasingly non-religious and religiously diverse population.
In a submission to the Procedure and Privileges Committee’s inquiry into the Legislative Assembly Standing Orders, the RSA noted that ‘no religion’, as of the 2021 Census, was already a larger share of the WA population than Christianity and would likely reach 50 per cent this year.
Also, a former clerk of the Legislative Assembly made a submission that called for prayers to be replaced with a period of silent contemplation or reflection to ensure inclusivity and respect for diversity.
The RSA’s submission said the imposition of acts of Christian worship failed to reflect the West Australian community, with Census data – based on a biased question that inflates the religious result by as much as 11 points – showing Christianity on track to fall to between 30-40 per cent this year.
RSA Executive Director Si Gladman noted that, while the Legislative Assembly’s Standing Orders requires the Speaker to say ‘prayers’ at the commencement of proceedings, they do not specify what form of prayers – or from what religion – they must be.
In practice, the chamber – as well as the upper house – begins each day with exclusively Christian prayers, including the Lord’s Prayer.
The submission also argued that the practice was at odds with state and international fundamental human rights protections of freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief.
Mr Gladman noted that, last year, the RSA – supported by another eight non-religious, ex-religious and pro-secular community groups – raised the issue of prayers in government institutions as part of a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) into Australia’s human rights.
“Imposing acts of religious worship is discriminatory on the grounds of religion and belief. It is exclusionary and sends a message to many people in the community that they are not welcome,” he said.
“The practice is alienating for many members of the parliament who are not religious or Christian.
“Members of parliament are elected to represent their communities, not to ‘advance the glory’ of one particular religious community’s deity. In their place of work, elected representatives should be able to participate fully instead of having to decide whether to remove themselves from the chamber for the duration of the prayers.”
In a submission, former clerk of the parliament Kirsten Robinson said, while tradition was important and provided continuity with the institution’s history, it was necessary to recognise that Western Australia “has a diverse and multicultural society, and that the composition of the Parliament has evolved accordingly”.
“Consideration should be given to replacing the Lord’s Prayer with a short period of silent contemplation or reflection. This would preserve the underlying intent of beginning the parliamentary day with reflection, while ensuring inclusivity and respect for the diversity of beliefs represented within both the Parliament and the broader community,” she said.
“This approach has been adopted in the ACT, and provides flexibility for members to pray according to their faith, to reflect quietly, or simply to contemplate the responsibilities of public office.”
The RSA’s submission said momentum for change was building on this issue across Australia, with a number of local governments replacing prayer observances with moments for silent reflection or secular civic statements, and the Tasmanian upper house recently removing the Lord’s Prayer.
Mr Gladman said public institutions, especially the parliament, should be secular and should not privilege religion or have a favoured religion.
“The imposition of acts of religious worship – and, in particular, worship in one favoured religious tradition – is completely at odds with the principle of separation of church and state,” he said.
“Such institutions should promote social cohesion, provide equal treatment to all people, and be welcoming of all, regardless of their religious or non-religious beliefs.”
For a number of years, a member of the state’s upper house, Brian Walker, has been calling for the removal of Christian prayers.
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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