The Rationalist Society of Australia has urged South Australia to follow Tasmania’s lead and abolish blasphemy and sacrilege laws.

Following Tasmania’s decision to remove blasphemy from its law books last year, the RSA’s Executive Director Si Gladman has written to South Australian Attorney-General Kyam Maher, calling on his government to act.

Mr Gladman told Mr Maher that abolishing such laws was particularly necessary in South Australia given the continued use of the sacrilege provisions.

State authorities have laid charges of sacrilege on several occasions in the past two decades, including in the 2020 case of a 19-year-old man for allegedly stealing items from a church.

Under Section 167 of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA), the crime of sacrilege carries a punishment of imprisonment for life – the same as for murder – for breaking and entering a “place of divine worship” and committing an offence, or breaking out of a place of worship after committing an offence.

South Australian laws also retain blasphemy and blasphemous libel as common law offences, and in respect of some classified publications.

Previously, the RSA asked Mr Maher to address the issue in a letter in January 2023.

In the letter sent last month, Mr Gladman noted that the Ruddock report on religious freedom had recommended that any jurisdiction still with statutory or common law offences of blasphemy should abolish them.

“Sacrilege and blasphemy laws have no place in modern-day South Australia. It’s time for them to go,” said Mr Gladman.

Blasphemy laws continue to be on the books in New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory.

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. You can contact him at sigladman@rationalist.com.au.

RSA letter to Attorney-General Maher, 27 December 2024

Dear Attorney-General,

I’m writing to follow up with you on our previous letter of 5 January 2023 (from our then president, Meredith Doig) in regards to our call for South Australia to abolish sacrilege and blasphemy offences.

We wish to inform you that, as a result of our advocacy on this same issue in other states, the Tasmanian Parliament has in recent months removed blasphemy from its law books.

We urge you, as Attorney-General, to take similar steps to modernise South Australian criminal law in line with community expectations.

It is particularly necessary in South Australia given the continued use of the sacrilege provisions, with a man having been charged as recently as 2020.

As we pointed out in our previous letter on this issue, Section 167 of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) states that a person can be guilty of sacrilege and imprisoned for life – the same as for murder – for breaking and entering a “place of divine worship” and committing an offence, or breaking out of a place of divine worship after committing an offence.

We also understand that blasphemy and blasphemous libel remain common law offences in South Australia. 

The Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 (SA) provides a limited “protection against prosecution under laws relating to obscenity, indecency, offensive materials or blasphemy” in respect of some classified publications.

Sacrilege and blasphemy laws have no place in modern-day South Australia. It’s time for them to go.

Indeed, the 2018 Ruddock report on religious freedom recommended that any jurisdiction that still had statutory or common law offences of blasphemy should abolish them. The federal government’s response to that report stated: “State and Territory laws specifically prohibiting blasphemy place too great a burden on freedom of expression and infringe upon people’s enjoyment of other fundamental rights.”

Regards,

Si Gladman

Executive Director,

Rationalist Society of Australia