The Liberal Party appears to want to return to the Howard-era model of using federal funding for religious chaplains in schools while not providing school communities the option of a secular wellbeing worker.
As part of its education plan to ‘“return Australia to a top 10 education nation”, as outlined in its website, the party says it will “invest in chaplaincy” and “increase support for the National School Chaplaincy Program”.
After coming to office, the Albanese government renamed the program the ‘National Student Wellbeing Program’ and gave schools the option to choose secular wellbeing officers instead of religious agents.
Under the previous National School Chaplaincy Program, first introduced under Prime Minister John Howard, funding was only available for schools to appoint people “of faith” and schools recruited chaplains mostly through Christian labour hire firms that required job candidates show religious credentials, such as church attendance, formal ordination and endorsement from the pastor or priest.
As a result, federal funding was used to discriminate against non-religious people and non-Christians on the basis of religion and belief as the dominant Christian third-party providers did not employ non-Christians.
Following the advocacy work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, anti-discrimination and human rights commissions in a number of states – including Western Australia and Queensland – have recognised that such practices represent religious-based discrimination under their relevant state laws.
Since being given the secular option under the Albanese government, there has been a surge in the number of schools choosing the secular option.
Religious-based discrimination has remained a feature of the Labor government’s program, however, as many workers employed in the roles have continued to meet religious requirements.
The Liberal Party’s election policy claims that demand is “rising” for chaplaincy services due to the cost-of-living crisis.
“School chaplains do an incredible job in Australian schools supporting students’ wellbeing and mental health and in combating bullying,” says the party’s policy.
“A Dutton Coalition Government will: Increase support for the National School Chaplaincy Program and apply indexation to the program from 1 January 2023 which will allow funding to keep up with delivery costs.”
Earlier this year, RSA Executive Director Si Gladman wrote to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to urge the Liberal Party to commit to ensuring that any federal support for student wellbeing programs in public schools funded the professional secular support that Australian kids need, instead of religious activities.
However, the RSA did not receive a reply.
Speaking today, Mr Gladman said governments should be investing in a modern and secular support capability in public schools in which schools could directly appoint the best people for the job based on professional qualifications and experience, and not religious credentials.
If you want to support our work, please make a donation or become a member.
Si Gladman is Executive Director at the Rationalist Society of Australia. He also hosts ‘The Secular Agenda’ podcast.