Councillors push for end to ‘inappropriate’ Christian prayers at meetings

A group of Victorian councillors has written to the state government calling for guidelines to end Christian prayers in local council meetings.

The letter, sent on Tuesday and signed by 21 councillors from across the state, argues widespread use of a single faith’s prayers at the start of meetings is “inconsistent with the multicultural and multi-faith diversity of the communities the council represents”.

Councillors have called for the end of Christian prayers at local government meetings.Credit:Darrian Traynor

Some councillors object to being compelled by their council’s governance rules to participate in a religious ceremony as part of their role, says the letter, which also cites peer-reviewed research by Monash University Professor of Law Luke Beck, who has questioned whether the use of prayers is consistent with the Local Government Act of 2020.

The signatories say Christian prayer use is inconsistent with the diversity of the communities councils represent. The letter was sent to Premier Daniel Andrews, Local Government Minister Melissa Horne, Multicultural Affairs Minister Colin Brooks, and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.

“The practice excludes the non-religious and adherents of minority faiths,” it says. “Some councillors oppose as a matter of principle government organs such as councils being anything other than neutral in matters of religion.”

One signatory, Associate Professor David Zyngier, a City of Glen Eira councillor, said the use of prayers was divisive and should be dropped.

“It’s inappropriate in a multicultural society praying to one particular deity. It excludes all others,” said Zyngier, who has also campaigned against special religious education in schools.

“Either you have to acknowledge all the deities present in the community or none … I’m a person of faith, but a secularist at the same time and I believe in the separation of powers.”

A government spokesman said the Local Government Act did not require councils to conduct prayers and “we expect councils will reflect, and are accountable to, the communities that they are elected to serve”.

Glen Eira councillor David Zyngier.

City of Banyule councillor Tom Melican, also among the 21 signatories, said though he was a Christian, he was against use of one religion’s prayer because it was exclusive.

Melican last year voted against a push by fellow Banyule councillor Mark Di Pasquale to have prayers incorporated into council proceedings. Di Pasquale’s push was ultimately unsuccessful.

“I’m a practising Catholic, but I understand the difference between my civil responsibilities and my faith,” Melican said.

“We’re an inclusive society, the guidelines [around prayer in councils] should make sure everyone who participates in the council process feels included.

“I don’t understand how you could have a single denominational prayer that would make all people, including agnostics, feel included … I don’t see how the mayor reading out a prayer makes you make better decisions.”

Di Pasquale last year argued to Banyule Council that “religion is all the time” and “we should be praying all the time”.

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes has previously flagged replacing the Lord’s Prayer in state parliament.Credit:Eddie Jim

“I brought (this issue) up once again because there are members of the community who do think that government, or those who are representing the people, should not have separation between religion and or their roles in community,” he said.

Prayers at council openings have also been contentious in the City of Boroondara, since a 2021 campaign by councillor Victor Franco to abolish their use.

Boroondara meetings open with a prayer seeking blessings from “Almighty God” and calls for the prayer to “direct and prosper” its work.

Despite community consultation that attracted 115 submissions against prayer use, compared with 59 in support, Franco’s proposal to introduce a more inclusive gesture failed.

“There is a lot of talk around Australia now about ‘religious freedom’. But I believe that Australians should also have the right to freedom from religion,” Franco told a Rationalist Society of Australia publication at the time.

“And that should be especially so in our institutions of government.”

Last month, Rationalist Society president Meredith Doig called on Andrews to deliver on Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes’ pre-election pledge to replace the Lord’s Prayer in parliament with a “purpose built” model to reflect Victoria’s diversity.

On Thursday, Boroondara Mayor Felicity Sinfield told The Age that a prayer continued to be used to open council meetings, but declined to comment further. Another councillor said Sinfield supported prayers remaining during last year’s discussions.

The Gippsland South Shire was until late last year one of an estimated 39 of Victoria’s 79 councils to open with Christian prayers, until it voted overwhelmingly to replace the words “we pray to God to guide us so that the thoughts we have and the decisions we made this day are in the best interests of the people of South Gippsland Shire”.

It adopted a secular statement including the words “as we gather here from diverse backgrounds and beliefs, may we hold privilege with good care and trust”.

The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and the Municipal Association of Victoria declined to comment.

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