The Queensland government will continue to stand by and allow local governments to engage in the likely unlawful and discriminatory practice of imposing Christian worship in formal government meetings.

In the letter to the Rationalist Society of Australia (see below), the office of the state’s minister for local government, Ann Leahy, said the government would “respect the diversity of approaches” taken by councils regarding the observance of religious prayers and sermons.

In February, RSA Executive Director Si Gladman raised concerns with Minister Leahy (pictured) that a number of Queensland councils opened their ordinary council meetings with exclusionary acts of Christian worship. Some Queensland councils – such as Mackay Regional Council and Redlands City Council – only invite Christian community leaders to deliver prayers and sermons, with these acts of worship lasting for multiple minutes.

The RSA also argued that such practices were likely unlawful as they breached state anti-discrimination and human rights laws, and were neither authorised by the Local Government Act 2009 (Qld) nor keeping in line with the requirement of councils to perform their responsibilities in accordance with “social inclusion”.

Across the country, a number of local councils have in recent times stopped the practice of opening their meetings with religious rituals after having received their own legal advice indicating the practice was unlawful.

In response to the RSA, a spokesperson for the minister’s office said the legal framework for how local governments were to operate afforded councils “considerable autonomy” that enabled them to “make decisions which reflect their local communities”.

“It is for each council to determine how it conducts its council meetings, in accordance with the LGA, including the local government principles. I note that councils across Queensland have taken different approaches to acts of Christian worship at council meetings,” the spokesperson said.

“In keeping with these principles, the Queensland Government will continue to respect the diversity of approaches taken by Queensland councils on this matter.”

A number of Queensland councillors have been calling for removal of religious prayers from formal meetings in recent years, publicly raising concerns about the human rights impact of imposing prayers.

Late last year, following advocacy from the RSA, Mackay councillor George Christensen told ABC radio that he would have no problem including people of other faiths in Mackay council’s ‘Opening Prayer’.

However, Mackay’s mayor has not responded to the RSA’s letter from early December, when he was asked whether the council would now include people of other faiths and of non-religious backgrounds. All Mackay council meetings since then have featured only Christian church leaders.

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.

If you want to support our work, please make a donation or become a member.

Letter from the office of Minister Leahy, 11 March 2025

Thank you for your email of 19 February 2025 to the Honourable Ann Leahy MP, Minister for Local Government and Water and Minister for Fire, Disaster Recovery and Volunteers regarding the inclusion of religious sermons and prayers in ordinary council meetings. The Minister has asked me to respond to you on her behalf.

I acknowledge the long history of the Rationalist Society of Australia and your organisation’s ongoing advocacy work to promote human dignity, respect, human progress, and evidence-based reasoning.

While the Local Government Act 2009 (LGA) establishes the legal framework for how local governments are to operate, the LGA affords councils considerable autonomy, enabling them to make decisions which reflect their local communities.

It is for each council to determine how it conducts its council meetings, in accordance with the LGA, including the local government principles. I note that councils across Queensland have taken different approaches to acts of Christian worship at council meetings.

In keeping with these principles, the Queensland Government will continue to respect the diversity of approaches taken by Queensland councils on this matter.

Thank you for your enquiry.

Yours sincerely

IAN ANDREW

Policy Advisor

Office of the Minister for Local Government and Water and Minister for Fire, Disaster Recovery and Volunteers

RSA letter to Minister Leahy, 19 February 2025

Dear Minister Leahy,

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.

Firstly, congratulations on your election late last year and your appointment as Minister for Local Government and Water, and Minister for Fire, Disaster Recovery and Volunteers. We wish you well.

I’m writing in regards to a matter that relates to your local government portfolio. We are deeply concerned about the practice of a number of Queensland councils opening their ordinary council meetings with acts of Christian worship – including sermons and prayers. We urge you to require that councils replace Christian worship with practices that are secular and better reflect their diverse communities.

While many councils begin with the mayor or another councillor reciting short Christian prayers, others councils invite Christian ministers from the local communities to conduct a sermon and prayers that go for multiple minutes. For example, we have reported on how the ‘Devotional Segment’ at the Redlands City Council typically lasts for about five minutes – and sometimes up to 10 minutes. At the Mackay Regional Council, Christian sermonising goes for a number of minutes. One early last year went for 11 minutes!

As well as being a waste of valuable time, the imposition of Christian prayers is exclusionary and sends a message to many in the Queensland community that they are not welcome.

The practice fails to reflect the rich religious and non-religious diversity of Queensland. Census figures show that a declining percentage of citizens even identify as Christian. According to the 2021 Census – which used a biased question that presumed all respondents had a religion – 41 per cent of Queenslanders identified as not religious or another secular affiliation. Significant numbers of Queenslanders also identify as belonging to non-Christian faiths.

We believe the practice of starting local government meetings with Christian acts of worship is unlawful because: 1) the practice amounts to religious discrimination contrary to the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld); 2) the practice does not give proper consideration to human rights and is contrary to the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld).

We also believe it is unlawful because including religious rituals as part of council meetings is not authorised by the Local Government Act 2009 (Qld). In addition, section 4(2)(c) of the LGA Act says the local government responsibilities are to be performed in a manner consistent with the principle of “social inclusion”.

It is not surprising that elected representatives who feel alienated by the practice are speaking out. Last year, the mayor of Southern Downs Regional Council, Melissa Hamilton, called for the removal of prayers from meetings and argued that the practice potentially breached the state’s human rights laws. According to a media report, she said:

“In my opinion, including the prayer once the meeting has opened potentially infringes the Act. Forcing someone to sit through a religious ceremony is in breach [of the Act] in my view…”

Following her election last year, the new mayor of Redland City Council, Jos Mitchell, raised the issue with her colleagues and argued that, if the opening segment were to continue, it should reflect the diversity of the Redland community.

Minister, will you ensure that local governments replace the exclusionary and discriminatory acts of Christian worship in their meetings with practices that are secular and that better reflect their diverse communities?

We look forward to your reply.

Regards,

Si Gladman

Executive Director,

Rationalist Society of Australia