Secular Agenda

This episode features an interview with Michael Dove, the spokesperson for the ‘Census 2026 – Not Religious?’ campaign. The joint campaign is urging Australians to mark ‘No religion’ if they are no longer religious at the national Census, being held in August this year. Michael speaks on how the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) ended up deciding to re-use the flawed question for religious aff...

This episode features an interview with Collin Acton, a former Christian chaplain and a former Director-General of the Royal Australian Navy's chaplaincy branch, about the imposition of religion in Anzac Day Dawn Services. Collin presided over Anzac Day commemorations during his 20-plus career as a chaplain in the military. As Navy’s top chaplain, he was instrumental in spearheading secular reform...

This episode highlights the lack of legislative action in Western Australia and nationally over religious exemptions to equal opportunity and anti-discrimination laws, and the impact this is having particularly on LGBTIQ+ students and teachers in faith-based schools. It features an interview conducted with Brian Greig (2:16) in February. Brian is a spokesperson for national lobby group Just-Equal...

This episode highlights Victoria’s voluntary assisted dying (VAD) laws, the new amendments to improve access for terminally ill people, and the continued efforts of opponents to wind back such laws across the country. The episode features an interview with Jane Morris (1:30) , who is a long-time advocate for VAD and is President of Dying With Dignity Victoria. The organisation has been at the fore...

This episode highlights the psychological impacts and other harms experienced in cults and high-demand groups, and discusses the supports cult survivors need on their path to recovery.  The episode features an interview with Maria Esguerra (2:03) , a psychologist and director of the Olive Leaf Network Australia, which is dedicated to supporting former members of high-demand groups. Maria is a surv...

This episode highlights a new parliamentary inquiry in Victoria examining cults and organised fringe groups,  the methods used to recruit and control their members, and the impacts of coercive control. The episode features an interview with Lara Kaput (02:10) , a former member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who became a whistleblower. For a number of years, Lara dedicated herself to advocacy work with...

This episode examines the Australian War Memorial's response to public calls for it to stop imposing Christianity in the national Anzac Day Dawn Service in Canberra. The episode features an interview with David Stephens (01:45) , the editor of the Honest History and Defending Country websites. Honest History has long been advocating for reforms on a number of issues relating to the War Memorial, a...

With increasing numbers of Australians walking away from religion, there is a growing need for support services to help people navigate the journey out of religion and to overcome the trauma of having lived with strict religious dogmas or having suffered years of abuse in coercive and repressive religious environments. One organisation helping to address this need in Australia is Recovering from R...

There has been increasing interest in a shadowy network of free-market think tanks seeking to influence economic and political policy in countries around the world, including in Australia. One emerging element of the Atlas Network is Christian Nationalism. This episode features an interview with Lucy Hamilton (1:48), who is currently undertaking PhD research into the links between Christian Nation...

With Donald Trump set to return to the presidency in 2025, the Christian Nationalist agenda looms large in the United States. But what will Trump’s re-election mean for the Christian Right in Australia? This episode features an interview with Clare Health-McIvor (1:42), who is host of the ‘Unchurchable’ podcast, which examines religious trauma, damaging theologies, and life after church. Clare is...

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We share highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast. This episode features an interview with New South Wales upper house member Abigail Boyd, of the The Greens. For our October 2022 webinar, Abigail joined with other guest speakers to discuss the issue o...

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We share highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast. This episode features an interview with investigative journalist David Hardaker from our webinar in April 2024.  David is well-known for his reporting on the controversies at Hillsong Church, its forme...

This episode explores the stalemate in federal politics over religious exemptions in anti-discrimination laws. It features an interview with teacher Steph Lentz (1:48), who was fired from a Christian school because of her homosexuality. Steph has been a vocal advocate for the need to remove such exemptions from anti-discrimination laws. In 2023, she told her story in the book, In/Out: A scandalous...

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We share highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast. This episode features highlights from our February 2024 webinar, when Stephen Evans, the Chief Executive Office of the UK’s National Secular Society, shared insights on the entanglement of church and s...

This episode examines the religious dominance of important national commemorations, such as Anzac Day, and the need for secular reform of such events. The episode features an interview with Army veteran Sam Proctor ( 1:50) , who separated from the Australian Army last year after 10 years of service. Proctor raised the problem as part of his submission to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veter...

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We share highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast. This episode features highlights from our September 2023 webinar, when Dr Rebecca Banham shared insights into her research on the Australian media’s response to the rise of non-religious identification...

This episode explores the development in New South Wales of the Faith Affairs Council and the state Labor government’s decision to block non-religious and ex-religious representation from the body. The episode features an interview with Steve Marton (2:25), who is president of Sydney Atheists. In November 2023, the state government rejected his application to become a member of the Faith Affairs C...

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We share highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast. This episode features highlights from our March 2023 webinar, when Dr Jennifer Bleazby presented on her research into current scripture laws and policies operating in public schools across the country....

This episode explores the topic of Special Religious Education (SRE), or ‘scripture’, in New South Wales’ public schools, and the mounting public opposition to religious missionaries continuing to be allowed to interrupt the curriculum and take over class time. The episode features an interview with Steven Cowgill (4:48), a parent who has recently launched a petition on the New South Wales Parliam...

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We share highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast. This episode features highlights from our June webinar with Dr Philip Saj, Visiting Scholar at The Business School at University of Adelaide. In the webinar, he spoke on the topic ‘Basic Religious Char...

This episode explores the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) proposal to change the religion question for the 2026 Census, and the campaign behind the push for more accurate and meaningful data on religion. The episode features an interview with Michael Dove (1:57) , the spokesperson for the Census – Not Religious? Mark 'No Religion' campaign. At the 2021 Census, the campaign – which was a joi...

This episode takes a look at the growing pressure on the Palaszczuk government to move Religious Instruction – or RI – out of class time at public schools in Queensland. The episode features an interview with Labor branch member Mel Dodds (1:41) , who successfully moved a resolution calling for reform at Queensland Labor’s State Party Conference in early June 2023. Her resolution asked: that RI be...

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We share highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast. In this episode, we hear from Phillip Hoglin CSC, a former Colonel in the Australian Army and Defence statistician, on the changing religious demographics in the Australian Defence Force (ADF). In June...

This episode explores the nature of Australia’s system of public holidays and the growing calls for it to better reflect the religious and non-religious diversity of our multicultural society. The episode features an interview with Hugh Piper, the Program Lead at the Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy and Defence Dialogue. Earlier this year, he put forward a secular solution to the problem – a sy...

Each month, the Rationalist Society of Australia hosts a webinar, with a guest speaker, or speakers, presenting on a topic of interest. We’re now sharing highlights of our past webinars here on this podcast. In this episode, we hear from Jonathan Meddings, author of the new book ‘ The Final Cut: The truth about circumcision ’. He is Chair of The Darbon Institute, a charity working to protect and p...