The National Secular Lobby is an Australian pro-secular organisation, founded in July 2017 and officially launched in January 2018. It aims to promote
secular principles and the
separation of church and state in Australia The Constitution of Australia prevents the Commonwealth from establishing any religion or requiring a religious test for any office:—
: Ch 5 § 116 ''The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any reli ...
.
The National Secular Lobby combines the building of grassroots awareness and action with the direct lobbying of parliamentarians by high profile ambassadors. It has made submissions to various parliamentary inquiries, including the Religious Freedom Review (2018), the 2021 Census Topic Review (2018), and the Parliamentary Prayers Inquiry
(2018).
Ambassadors
Current National Secular Lobby ambassadors are:
*
Phillip Adams
*
Van Badham
Vanessa "Van" Badham (born 1974) is an Australian writer and activist. A playwright and novelist, she writes dramas and comedies. She is a regular columnist for the ''Guardian Australia'' website.
Early life
Badham was born in Sydney in 1974. ...
* Lazaras Panayiotou
*
Julian Burnside
Julian William Kennedy Burnside (born 9 June 1949) is an Australian barrister, human rights and refugee advocate, and author. He practises principally in commercial litigation, trade practices and administrative law. He is known for his staunc ...
*
Jane Caro
Catherine Jane Caro (born 24 June 1957) is a feminist social commentator, writer and lecturer based in Australia.
Early life and education
Caro was born in London in 1957 and emigrated to Australia with her parents as a five-year-old in 196 ...
*
Fiona Patten
Fiona Heather Patten (born May 1964) is a former Australian politician. She is the leader of the Reason Party and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council between 2014 and 2022, representing the Northern Metropolitan Region until sh ...
*
Chris Schacht
Christopher Cleland Schacht (born 6 December 1946) is a former Australian politician and member of the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He was born in Melbourne and educated at the University of Adelaide and Wattle ...
* Dr
Paul Willis
* Dr David Zyngier
See also
*
Secular Party of Australia
The Secular Party of Australia is a minor Australian political party, founded in January 2006 and registered as a federal political party in 2010.
*
Secular state
*
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a si ...
*
Secularity
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
The National Secular Lobby website
Church–state separation advocacy organizations
Secularism in Australia