Congratulations to the Humanist Society of WA for a busy and successful year.
Here is what they’ve achieved, using the 10 Point Plan for a Secular Australia …
| SOCIETY Support a secular, pluralistic and democratic Australia • Government policies should be based on evidence, reason and compassion, and protect the human rights of all Australians • Everyone should be free to choose and hold their own religious or non-religious worldviews, provided they do not impose such views on others, and provided practices associated with such worldviews do no harm. | • 10 bookclubs and one film night on topics that bear influence on a secular Australia. • Protest Pastor Adeboye’s visit to Perth (24 Nov) • Celebrated Darwin Day (16 Feb) • Alan Needham represented HSWA “Creationism in Crisis” to Unitarian Church (16 Mar) • Public Astronomy Lecture (31 May) • Donated $1,000 to Richard Dawkins Foundation • Gifted clothing to homeless (10 Aug) • Investigating commemorations for Charles Darwin’s visit to WA 180th anniversary. • Delegate to World Humanist Congress 2014 (Oxford UK) • Delegate to World Humanist Day Symposium on The Enlightenment Values (NSW, 20 June) |
| PARLIAMENTS AND GOVERNMENT There must be clear separation between religion and the State • All Australian constitutions should be reformed to ensure clear separation between religion and the State, and all references to God removed • Religious references in statutory oaths and pledges should be removed, and parliamentary prayers replaced with non-religious observances • No laws made by parliaments nor decisions of executive government should privilege or promote religion. | • Founding member of Secular Coalition of Australia (SECOA) with a committee appointed liaison. • ABS submission on religion question in Census • Complaint letter to Minister of Police for Police use of Christian symbols, staff. |
| LAW There must be ‘one law for all’, with no recognition of parallel legal systems • Religious institutions should not be permitted to exempt themselves from the law of the land. Canon law must not take precedence over Australian law • Sharia courts should not be officially recognised • There should be mandatory reporting of serious crimes by all professionals, including religious functionaries. 4 Religious organisations must be subject to the same laws as other organisations • The ‘advancement of religion’ should be removed from the statutory definition of charity, and religious organisations should not enjoy automatic tax exempt status • Religious organisations should be subject to anti- discrimination laws in employment and service provision • Government funding to religious organisations such as schools and hospitals should be subject to rigorous accountability to ensure compliance with anti- discrimination laws and the absence of proselytising. | • Bookclub on ‘Infidel’ • Hosted public Ayaan Hirsi Ali Foundation event, speaker Elizabeth Needham attended by Federal Member of Parliament Hon Alannah MacTiernan • Written to WA Police Community Liaison and Child Care Australia on female genital mutilation (FGM) • Passed national motion at CAHS calling on state government action on FGM • Letters to NSW government Ministers congratulating increases in penalties for FGM on behalf of CAHS • Bookclub – “Nineteen Eighty-Four” |
| EDUCATION Education must be strictly secular, not promoting any particular religion • National and state curricula should include the study of a range of religious and non-religious worldviews, taught by professionally trained teachers • Government resources should not be used to support particular religious views, programs of religious instruction, or the employment of religious functionaries in educational settings. | • Moved CAHS motion against volunteers in religious instruction timeslot (unsuccessful) – article in Australian Humanist Spring 2014 explaining WA’s position • Bookclub – “Taking God To School” • Letters to NSW government Ministers and childcare Australia calling for teacher/student education on FGM |
| SEX AND SEXUALITY There must be no discrimination on the basis of a person’s sex, sexuality or gender identity • Australian governments should not impose a religious bias on the definition of marriage, or on the right to adopt. 7 There must be freedom of reproductive choice, with no religious interference • Termination of pregnancy should be decriminalised in all States and Territories • Governments should make access to evidence-based sexual and reproductive health information and healthcare services universally available • Age-appropriate sex and relationships education should be included in national and state curricula. | • Protest letters to UWA for hosting homophobic, misogynist Pastor • Rallied for government to change laws prohibiting LGBT marriage rights. • Raised $2,106 for Ayaan Hirsi Ali Foundation against forced marriage, FGM and honour violence • Attended and marched in the Reclaim the Night Rally for women’s reproductive freedoms • Letters of commendation to Margaret River Senior High School for the controversial theatre production of “The Laramie Project” • Bookclub – “Handmaid’s Tale” |
| HEALTHCARE Healthcare must be available to all regardless of the religious views of the provider • Public hospitals must not be allowed to restrict treatment on the basis of religious worldviews • Private hospitals must not refuse emergency treatment on the basis of religious worldviews. | |
| CHILDREN Children must not suffer because of the religious views of their parents • Decisions about children’s healthcare should be based on evidence-based medicine, not the religious worldviews of their parents • No organisation, whether religious or not, should be allowed to restrict children’s education or to isolate them within closed communities. | • Numerous initiatives already stated addressing FGM. |
| DYING WITH DIGNITY 1When facing the end of life, everyone must be guaranteed control over their own bodies, free from religious interference • ‘Advance directives’ should be given legal force • Physician-assisted suicide, with appropriate safeguards, should be decriminalised • Governments should fund non-religious palliative care services. | • Submission to Federal Government on draft Dying with Dignity (Euthanasia) legislation • Encouraged member submissions |