The Rationalist Society of Australia has urged the Australian Football League to ensure non-religious footballers have the same opportunity as their religious colleagues to speak about their worldview on the league’s own media channels.

The RSA has written to the AFL following the publication of an article on the afl.com.au website last week – titled ‘Trust in God: Dempsey on faith, footy and meeting a Cats legend’ – in which a player spoke of how his Christianity inspired him and his desire to “spread the goodness of Jesus”.

In the letter (see below), RSA Executive Director Si Gladman said the AFL needed to ensure that it provided the same opportunity to non-religious players who are inspired by their non-religious worldviews.

“We recognise that sharing the personal stories and motivations of players on the AFL website is a completely reasonable thing to do in promoting the sport and in celebrating the people that make the game special,” he wrote.

“We just want to ensure that AFL players who hold non-religious worldviews – such as atheism, humanism, or rationalism – are afforded the same opportunity to share their worldviews on AFL platforms.

“For many non-religious people, their worldview is just as motivating and as inspiring in how they live their lives as a religious worldview is for religious people.”

Mr Gladman reminded the AFL that international and Victorian anti-discrimination law treated “religion and belief” equally. 

He also noted that the majority of AFL players were likely to be not religious, given the high rates of non-religious affiliation for the 18-35 age bracket across the Australian population, as revealed in the Religiosity in Australia series by Neil Francis.

The RSA also urged the AFL to ensure that its own policies on discrimination, vilification and respect in the sport, be updated to treat “religion and belief” equally, instead of just referring to religion.

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Si Gladman is Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. He also hosts ‘The Secular Agenda’ podcast.

Image: Michael_Spencer (Flickr CC)

RSA letter to the AFL, 11 February 2025

Dear AFL (and AFL Players Association in CC),

I’m writing on behalf of the Rationalist Society of Australia, which is Australia’s oldest freethought organisation promoting reason, secularism and evidence-based policy. We also advocate for the rights of non-religious and ex-religious Australians on a wide range of issues.

We note with interest the article published on the AFL website on 5 February 2025 about an AFL player sharing how his religious worldview motivates and inspires him. In the article titled, ‘Trust in God: Dempsey on faith, footy and meeting a Cats legend’, and written by Callum Twomey, the player spoke about how Christianity inspired his football, his involvement in a church community and his desire to “spread the goodness of Jesus”.

We recognise that sharing the personal stories and motivations of players on the AFL website is a completely reasonable thing to do in promoting the sport and in celebrating the people that make the game special.

We just want to ensure that AFL players who hold non-religious worldviews – such as atheism, humanism, or rationalism – are afforded the same opportunity to share their worldviews on AFL platforms.

At the next national Census in 2026, the proportion of Australians identifying as not religious is set to overtake those identifying as Christian. Given that the vast majority of Australians in the 18-35 age bracket identify as not religious, it is highly likely that most AFL players hold non-religious worldviews.

For many non-religious people, their worldview is just as motivating and as inspiring in how they live their lives as a religious worldview is for religious people.

International law – which Australia is a party to – recognises the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, with “religion or belief” treated equally. In Victoria, religious discrimination law prevents discrimination on the basis of religious belief, with ‘religious belief’ meaning to hold or not hold a religious belief.

If AFL players are able to freely share their religious worldviews on AFL platforms, then the AFL must take a principled approach and ensure that non-religious players, inspired by their non-religious worldviews, have the same opportunity.

How will the AFL ensure that non-religious AFL players are provided with the same opportunity to, if they wish, talk about their non-religious worldviews on AFL platforms, such as the AFL website?

Also, we notice that the AFL’s policy on vilification and discrimination refers to ‘religion’ (section 10 of the National Community Football Policy Handbook). We urge the AFL to ensure that any policies about vilification and discrimination, and about promoting equal treatment and respect in the sport, also include reference to ‘belief’ so as to not just cover religious people but also people who hold non-religious beliefs. It would be more appropriate to amend such policies to refer to ‘religion or belief’.

We would be happy to discuss these issues with you further.

Regards,

Si Gladman

Executive Director,

Rationalist Society of Australia