Secular Agenda

Rationalist Society of Australia
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This is a podcast by the Rationalist Society of Australia. It features interviews with people who are working for secular change.

  1. 20/12/2025

    Improving access to voluntary assisted dying in Victoria

    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 forefront of advocating for the end-of-life option, playing an influential role in seeing the state become the first jurisdiction to legalise VAD in 2017. In November this year, the Victorian Parliament passed the Voluntary Assisted Dying Amendment Bill (2025), making amendments to the laws to improve access and address problems. This development followed the release, earlier this year, of a review into the first four years of operation of the laws. Warning: this interview includes discussion of death and suicide.  For more information about Dying With Dignity Victoria, visit the organisation’s website here. The Rationalist Society of Australia is advocating for the federal government to allow telehealth for voluntary assisted dying. Follow our campaign here. The podcast is hosted by Si Gladman, Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, become a member or make a donation on our website. The theme music of The Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.

    43 min

  2. 19/10/2025

    Supporting survivors of cults and high-demand groups

    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 survivor of the Children of God cult – now known as the Family International.  Maria co-authored a submission to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry examining recruitment methods and impacts of cults and organised fringe groups. The Legislative Assembly Legal and Social Issues Committee’s inquiry is currently conducting hearings and plans to report its findings by 30 September next year. Visit the committee website here. In September this year, the committee released the results of a questionnaire conducted as part of its inquiry. Of 317 responses, 95 per cent of people reported psychological harm, while 85 per cent reported personal restrictions and 52 per cent physical harm. Read about the questionnaire here. Warning: this interview includes discussion of sexual abuse. The Rationalist Society of Australia is actively lobbying and advocating for coercive control laws to apply to cults and high-demand groups. Follow our campaign here. The podcast is hosted by Si Gladman, Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, become a member or make a donation on our website. The theme music of The Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.

    42 min

  3. 19/06/2025

    The Victorian inquiry examining coercive control in cult groups

    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 the group known as Say Sorry. She has recently stepped down from Say Sorry but continues to advocate for governments to address abuses in cult groups. The Legislative Assembly Legal and Social Issues Committee’s inquiry is currently open for submissions, closing at the end of July 2025. Submissions can be made via the committee's website. Visit it here. The Rationalist Society of Australia is advocating for states and territories to extend coercive control laws to cover cults and high-demand religious groups. Follow our campaign here. In early April this year, The Age featured a report by Richard Baker about the establishment of the committee inquiry. Read here. In May, SBS featured a report by Aleisha Orr about the inquiry and included comments from a support group for ex-cult members about its hopes that the inquiry will raise awareness about harms and drive change. Read here. In May, the Australian Christian Lobby’s Michelle Pearse warned that the Victorian parliamentary committee inquiry into cults and their coercive practices could impact the “Christian church” and restrict freedom of religion. Read here. The Secular Agenda podcast is hosted by Si Gladman, Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, become a member or make a donation on our website. The theme music of the podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.

    35 min

  4. 17/04/2025

    Reluctance to change at the Australian War Memorial

    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, and challenging the misuse of history to serve political or other agendas. It has publicly backed the call for Anzac Day Dawn Services to stop imposing Christianity. The Rationalist Society of Australia is actively lobbying and advocating for secular reform of the Defence Force and military commemorations. Follow our campaign here. In May 2024, we published an interview on this podcast with Army veteran Sam Proctor, who shared his concerns about the place of religion in military commemorations. Listen to episode 19, ‘How Christianity’s dominance of Anzac Day services excludes Defence personnel and veterans’. In February 2025, the Rationalist Society of Australia launched an online petition calling for the Australian War Memorial to stop imposing religion in the Anzac Day Dawn Service. Sign the petition here. In February 2025, journalist Amy Fallon wrote an article for Crikey about the Christian dominance of the Anzac Day Dawn Service. Read the full article here. For more information about the work of Honest History, visit its website here. For information about Defending Country, visit its website here. The podcast is hosted by Si Gladman, Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, become a member or make a donation on our website. The theme music of The Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer.

    34 min

  5. 21/02/2025

    Helping Australians to recover from religion

    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 Religion.  This episode features an interview with Sherrie D'Souza (2:08), who is International Development Director of Recovering from Religion. She is also Public Officer and Treasurer of Recovering from Religion Australia. For more information about Recovering from Religion Australia, visit its website here. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show a rapid decline in religious affiliation in Australia. For more information, check out the ABS website here. The Secular Agenda podcast is hosted by Si Gladman, the Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, become a member or make a donation here on our website. The theme music of The Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it is by Shimmer.

    33 min

  6. 17/12/2024

    Understanding the Atlas Network and its links to Christian Nationalism

    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 Nationalism and the Atlas Network in the Australian political context.  Lucy has written a number of pieces on the topic in online publications, in particular John Menadue’s ‘Pearls & Irritations’ blog. Find her articles here. Following the Secularism Australia Conference in December 2023, Lucy wrote in an article that people of faith and secularists/non-religious people need to work together for mutual protection. Read the article here.  The Secular Agenda podcast is hosted by Si Gladman, the Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, become a member or make a donation on our website. The theme music of The Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it is by Shimmer.

    31 min

  7. 23/11/2024

    What the Trump presidency will mean for Christian Nationalism and how it will inspire Australia’s Christian Right

    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 the eldest child of pastors of a church involved in the dominionist movement. Since leaving the City Builders Church in Gippsland, she has spoken out about the church’s efforts to infiltrate mainstream political parties and about the threat of Christian dominionism in Australia. Following the US presidential election, Clare wrote a piece on this topic for the ‘Rationale’ magazine, titled ‘The white God problem in politics’. Read the article here. The Secular Agenda podcast is hosted by Si Gladman, the Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, become a member or make a donation on our website. The theme music of The Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it is by Shimmer.

    44 min

  8. 09/10/2024

    RSA Webinar Highlights: Replacing prayer rituals – The push for more welcoming institutions

    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 of the imposition of daily Christian prayers in parliaments and in local councils. You can watch the full webinar here on our YouTube channel. Read a review about the webinar here on our website. For more information about upcoming webinars and to register to attend them, visit the webinars page on our website. The theme music of the Secular Agenda podcast is called 'Curiosity', and it's by Shimmer. To support the work of the Rationalist Society of Australia, you can become a member or make a donation on our website.

    19 min
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About

This is a podcast by the Rationalist Society of Australia. It features interviews with people who are working for secular change.

Information

  • Creator
    Rationalist Society of Australia
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    31
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Secular Agenda