A branch of the Returned & Services League (RSL) has suggested “numerous alternative services” are available to Australians who feel excluded and discriminated against by its Christianity-dominated Anzac Day Dawn Service at the national war memorial.

In a letter submitted to the Australian Capital Territory’s Human Rights Commission as part of a discrimination resolution process earlier this year, the RSL’s ACT branch argued the Christian nature of the Dawn Service was not discriminatory because the content of the service was “well known and has been broadcast for many years”.

In response, Rationalist Society of Australia’s Executive Director Si Gladman labelled the RSL’s attitude as dismissive of the national significance of the Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Australian War Memorial (AWM).

As reported earlier this month, Mr Gladman submitted a complaint to the ACT Human Rights Commission in June on the grounds that Christian dominance of the Anzac Day Dawn Service at the AWM discriminated against non-Christians. The AWM says it merely hosts the annual event “on behalf of the ACT Returned Services League”. 

In August, ACT RSL Chief Executive Officer Kimberley Hicks told the ACT Human Rights Commission that the veterans organisation would be unwilling to participate in any conciliation process to resolve the matter.

“…the RSL believes that the service is reasonable in all the circumstances and is constantly reviewed as a matter of course,” she wrote.

“The ACT RSL does not consider the complaint from Mr Gladman’s (sic) as constituting discrimination on the basis that the content of the service is well known and has been broadcast for many years.

“Attendance at the service is completely voluntary with numerous alternative services available.”

But Mr Gladman told the ACT Human Rights Commission that the Dawn Service at the AWM took on a greater significance than all the “numerous alternative services”, as it was attended by not only citizens of the ACT but also national and foreign dignitaries, and also watched live on TV and on the internet by many Australians.

“This attitude is dismissive of the national significance of Anzac Day and the service at the AWM – our nation’s most important site of remembrance – for not only residents of the ACT but to Australians across the country and the world,” he said.

The RSA has called on the AWM to take full control of commemoration services to ensure the Dawn Service meets public expectations.

The ACT Human Rights Commission formally closed the complaint in November after ACT RSL again confirmed it would not participate in conciliation.

Although the Dawn Service is held on the grounds of the AWM, the institution told the RSA earlier in the year that it merely hosts the annual event “on behalf of the ACT Returned Services League” and that “traditions move slowly”.

ACT RSL also told the ACT Human Rights Commission that, in planning for the Dawn Services, it took into account the “views” and “wishes” of the majority of people in attendance.

In response, Mr Gladman argued that this feedback would likely be skewed, given that many non-religious veterans and non-religious citizens say they do not attend Dawn Services because of the religious nature of these events.

Mr Gladman also raised concerns about Ms Hicks’ comment that ACT RSL worked with Defence chaplains to “provide a non-denominational approach”.

“We have, for quite some time, been calling on the Defence Force to pursue secular reform of its chaplaincy capability. Defence is failing to meet the needs of its majority non-religious workforce by providing overwhelmingly religious chaplains as its frontline wellbeing capability,” he wrote.

This year’s Dawn Service at the AWM again featured several acts of Christian worship, including Christian hymns, a Christian dedication and benediction, and the Lord’s Prayer – all presided over by a Christian chaplain.

Ms Hicks told the ACT Human Rights Commission that prior to reciting the Lord’s Prayer the presiding chaplain acknowledged that those in attendance “may have their own spiritual beliefs”.

“The Lord’s Prayer is included as a traditional spiritual input as it was recited at the first ANZAC Dawn service and has traditionally been included ever since,” she said.

In a letter to the Australian Human Rights Commission this month, the RSA raised the discriminatory Dawn Service among a number of examples of discrimination against non-religious Australians. It will also feature in a submission to the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (Fourth Cycle) into Australia’s human rights.

In other parts of the country, some RSL Dawn Services are largely secular and far more inclusive. At Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance, for example, the Dawn Service this year featured the hymn Abide With Me, but, notably, no Christian chaplain, no recital of Christian prayers, and no Christian dedication and benediction.

In June, AWM Director Matt Anderson told Mr Gladman that the memorial would work with the RSL to deliver a commemorative event that was “relevant and meaningful to veterans and their families and attendees”.

The Rationalist Society of Australia is actively advocating for secular reform of the Defence Force and military commemorations. See the latest updates here.

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