The first Secularism Australia Conference will bring together high-profile speakers and a number of secular champions for a one-day conference in Sydney this December.
Sponsored by a number of pro-secular organisations, the conference will provide a vision for a truly secular Australia and address the need for secular reform in many policy areas.
The conference will be held on Saturday 2 December at the New South Wales Teachers Federation’s Conference Centre in Surry Hills, located near Central Station.
Tickets are now on sale to the general public on our website, with early-bird rates available until Saturday 7 October.
Among the line-up of speakers sharing their vision for a truly secular Australia will be:
- Michael Kirby (former High Court Justice)
- Jane Caro (author and commentators)
- David Shoebridge (Senator for New South Wales)
- Fiona Patten (former member of the Victorian Legislative Council)
- Luke Beck (Professor of Constitutional Law)
- Van Badham (writer and commentator)
- Leslie Cannold (public ethicist, Head of Programs at Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership)
- Chrys Stevenson (researcher and writer)
- Chris Schacht (former Senator for South Australia)
- Victor Franco (Councillor at Boroondara Council)
- Collin Acton (former Director-General of Chaplaincy, Royal Australian Navy)
- Ron Williams (secular education advocate, Williams v Commonwealth of Australia)
- Alison Courtice (spokesperson, Queensland Parents for Secular State Schools)
- Craig McPherson (spokesperson, Fairness in Religion in Schools, New South Wales)
- Meredith Doig (President, Rationalist Society of Australia)
Conference spokesperson Michael Dove said the conference aimed to inspire a vision for a truly secular Australia and raise awareness for the need for secular reform in many policy areas, including education, health, the charities sector, the military, and parliamentary practices.
“Australian society is rapidly changing, becoming more multicultural and diverse, and increasingly less religious. Yet our government policies and institutions are failing to reflect this reality by treating all Australians fairly, regardless of religious or non-religious beliefs,” he said.
“We believe there is a real thirst in the community for separation of church and state, and a need for Australia to embrace secularism.
“The separation of religion and state is the foundation of secularism. Secularism also seeks to protect the rights of religious believers and non-believers alike and to ensure that freedom of religion is always balanced by the right to be free from religion.”
The event is being sponsored jointly by NSW Teachers Federation, Secular Association of NSW, Humanists Victoria, Rationalist Society of Australia, National Secular Lobby, Plain Reason, and Humanists Australia.
Money raised from the ticket sales will help to cover the costs of holding the event and will further help to advance secularism in Australia.
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