Dr Leslie Cannold Australian Humanist of the Year for 2011

In selecting Leslie Cannold for this year's award, Humanists are expressing their admiration for Leslie's forthright views on such controversial issues as advocacy of abortion rights for women, family planning and access to assisted reproductive technologies.

"No Religion" Census Campaign

The Atheist Foundation of Australia (AFA) launched a new website designed to encourage individuals and families to think about the importance and impact of their answer to the Census question: "What is the person's religion?"

This campaign is part of a wider education and communication campaign being run by the Atheist Foundation of Australia that draws attention to the fact that the wording of this question means many people will select the religion of their baptism or initiation at youth, despite not being a religious person at all.

This website -- www.CensusNoReligion.org
has been designed as a resource for interested Australians in the lead up to the next Australian Census being held on 9 August 2011. It gives people information about how the results of this question can be misused to allocate funds, overstate the number of actively religious people in Australia, and exaggerate the importance of religion in modern Australia.

AFA President David Nicholls said, “Data from the Census is used by parliamentarians and religious leaders to sway politics and social policy in favour of complying with religious tenets and ecclesiastical notions. In fact in many cases, it makes a situation where a decision that should rely on empirical evidence is overridden by religiousdemands.

“The coming Census in Australia is an important chance to make sure your interests are met in decision making and funding and that views you do not hold are not over-represented in the coming years,” Nicholls said. “I encourage everyone to visit the website and make sure they are informed of the implications of their answers, and if you are not religious now to mark ‘No religion’ on August 9.”

United Nations Association of Australia

Dr Adam Tarock is a research fellow at the University of Melbourne. He has lectured on the Middle East at both Deakin and Melbourne Universities and has published extensively on the Middle East and Central Asia in academic journals in Australia and overseas.

Linda Beatty at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Upcoming IQ2 Australia Melbourne Season

I am delighted to invite you to the IQ2 Australia Melbourne season, a collaboration between St James Ethics Centre and The Wheeler Centre.  These thought provoking debates will be held in the Melbourne Town Hall and will be recorded for later viewing.  Book now to participate in the real thing!

Public Funding of Private Education is Unconscionable

24 May

The parents of students attending private schools pay taxes. So why should their children be denied a share of the education dollar? Yet, every dollar provided to a private school is a dollar not available to invest in public schools. Melbourne Grammar reported a surplus last year of $8.2m and has accumulated assets of $128m. Scotch College has net assets of $117m and collected a profit of $14m last year. Both receive extensive levels of financial support from our federal government – while the facilities available to students at state schools are meagre. Where should we invest public funds – and according to what set of principles might we decide without unleashing the dogs of class warfare?

There is No Justification for Risking Australian lives in Afghanistan

28 July

As each name is added to the growing list of Australians killed serving in Afghanistan, the government assures the nation that the sacrifice in lives has been for a good cause and in the national interest. But what is the national interest that justifies such a terrible cost? Is this the price of our alliance with the United States? Is this the price of helping to curb the terrorist threat? Is this the price of national honour? Some believe that the price must be paid in the service of such causes. Yet, others find no consolation in claims of national interest; condemning the loss of Australian lives far from home.

15 September

Australia is the driest continent on Earth and Melbourne will continue to grow. For as long as this remains true, there will be increasing pressure to provide, from limited resources, a secure supply of water for the city. Meanwhile, vast amounts of water will be flushed away – ‘waste’ in every sense of the word. The people of great cities such as Singapore have met a similar challenge by drinking recycled water. Yet there are segments of the Australian population who are genuinely revolted by the thought of consuming treated effluent. As a matter of policy, should such misgivings be set aside – in favour of a solution that, if nothing else, may be the least bad option available?

15 November

For more than two millennia, the Catholic Church has been the author and repository of some of the highest ideals of humanity. Yet, as humanity is flawed, so is the Church. Few would deny that the Catholic Church has dark chapters in its history. However, do these darker moments unfairly obscure the light – perhaps because so much is expected of an institution that claims to bridge the sacred and secular? Or is the Catholic Church simply the most ancient of wolves in sheep’s clothing?

Upcoming Events with Liberty Victoria

People Smugglers: Friend or Foe? Refugee Stories of Escape and Necessity

Please DOWNLOAD the press release for this exhibition and spread the word to your friends, family and colleagues

Will the Revolution be Tweeted? The Role of Social Media in Promoting and Protecting Human Rights

Bought to you by the Human Rights Law Resource Centre and the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law. Join an expert panel which will debate and discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with the use of social media to promote and protect human rights. Entry by gold coin donation.

Date: Tuesday, 5 April 2011 12.30pm – 2.00pm

Venue: Monash University Law Chambers, 472 Bourke Street, Melbourne

RSVP by 28 March to castan.centre@monash.edu or (03) 9905 3327

Humanist Society Public Lectures

Sunday 1 May, 10 a.m. to 3.30 p.m., The Tudor,
1101 Whitehorse Road, Box Hill (Melway map ref. 47 F9).
Public lectures of the 46th Annual Convention of Australian Humanists:
Themes: secular public education; promoting Humanism.
All welcome. Prices $40 all day (include lunch), $15 from 2 p.m. Enquiries: ph. (03) 9857 8318.

Thursday 26 May, 7.30 pm for 8, Balwyn Library Meeting Room, 
336 Whitehorse Road, Balwyn (Melway map ref. 46 E8).
Public lecture of the Humanist Society of Victoria:
Michael Bachelard (The Age),
on  "Religious Cults and Humanism".
All welcome, entry by donation. Enquiries: ph. (03) 9857 8318.