The Rationalist Society of Australia has called on state governments to drop their plans to ban peaceful protests outside places of worship.

In a letter to the premiers and attorneys-general of New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland, RSA Executive Director Si Gladman said that any attempt to prevent peaceful protests outside places of worship would be “an attack on fundamental freedoms”.

He also said introducing such laws would be a knee-jerk reaction to the arson attack on the Melbourne synagogue in December.

In the days after the synagogue attack, the three states declared they would develop laws to ban protests outside places of worship.

The RSA is concerned that such laws will prevent Australians from holding peaceful protests that highlight important issues such as clerical abuse.

Abuse survivors conduct vigils outside Catholic Churches, tying ribbons to fences. They also protest the annual Red Masses, where members of the legal fraternity and government ministers partake in the traditional Catholic mass at the opening of the legal year.

In his letter (see below), Mr Gladman told the premiers and attorneys-general that governments should protect the right of Australians to peacefully protest and to hold privileged and powerful institutions to account.

“Religious institutions are among the most privileged and politically powerful institutions in Australian society. Yet, some of them, such as the Catholic Church, have a long and sordid history of their leaders engaging in criminal activity that has caused immense destruction in families and communities across the country,” he said.

“It is why survivors of clergy abuse hold peaceful protests outside Catholic Church buildings… Banning legitimate protest activities like these cannot be justified.”

He said violent protest, abusive behaviour or behaviours that sought to prevent people of faith from attending religious services, where those religious activities did not cause harm to others, should be outlawed. 

In recent years, Red Masses have attracted many protesters, who have raised concerns about the separation of church and state.

In the lead-up to this month’s Red Mass in Melbourne, the Archdiocese of Melbourne is currently promoting the attendance of a High Court justice.

Catholic leaders have used Red Masses to attack secularism. In a homily delivered at a Red Mass in Sydney in 2018, Archbishop Anthony Fisher likened the “militant secularism in the air at the moment” to the “colonialism, sectarianism, racism and sexism in the air at other times”.

“[It] threatens to unravel Australian respectfulness in religious matters and historic balances between Church and state,” he said.

“It’s not just the annual barneys over whether councils can wish people a Merry Christmas on their street banners or state school choirs sing carols. Rather, there is now a more hard-edged determination to minimise the role of faith in every life and exclude it altogether from the public square.”

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

Image: Shutterstock

RSA letter to state governments, 13 January 2025

Dear Premier and Attorney General,

I’m writing on behalf of the Rationalist Society of Australia (RSA), which is Australia’s oldest freethought group promoting reason, secularism and evidence-based policy.

We are deeply concerned about your government’s publicly stated intention to ban protests outside places of worship.

Governments should protect the right of Australians to peacefully protest and to hold privileged and powerful institutions to account. Indeed, freedom of political communication (including in the form of protest) is protected by Australia’s Constitution and by international human rights treaties to which Australia is a party.

Religious institutions are among the most privileged and politically powerful institutions in Australian society. Yet, some of them, such as the Catholic Church, have a long and sordid history of their leaders engaging in criminal activity that has caused immense destruction in families and communities across the country. 

It is why survivors of clergy abuse hold peaceful protests outside Catholic Church buildings, tying ribbons to fences or raising concerns about the participation in annual Red Masses by members of the judicial system and government leaders. Banning legitimate protest activities like these cannot be justified.

Violent protest, abusive behaviour or behaviours that seek to prevent people of faith from attending religious services (where those religious activities do not cause harm to others) should, rightfully, be outlawed. 

But any attempt by your government to prevent peaceful protest and ban people from voicing their opinions outside places of worship could only be viewed as an attack on fundamental freedoms and a knee-jerk reaction to the (already criminal) arson attack on the Melbourne synagogue in December.

We urge you to drop your plan for introducing laws that ban protests outside places of worship.

Regards,

Si Gladman

Executive Director,

Rationalist Society of Australia