Atheist Foundation of Australia

  • To encourage and to provide a means of expression for informed free-thought on philosophical and social issues.
  • To advocate for and safeguard the rights of all non-religious people.
  • To serve as a focal point for the community of non-religious people.
  • To offer verifiable information in place of superstition and to promote logic and reason.
  • To promote atheism.
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A joint letter from pro-secular organisations

 A joint letter from pro-secular organisations  Friday 5 July 2024  Dear Member of Parliament,  Our organisations represent the worldviews of pro-secular and non-religious people across Victoria. We are writing to urge you to support modernising the parliamentary...

Submission to the Productivity Commission’s Draft Report on Philanthropy

Atheist Foundation of Australia Incorporated (AFA) Submission to the Productivity Commission’s Draft Report on Philanthropy February 2024   The Atheist Foundation of Australia Incorporated (AFA) was established in 1970 and has members in every State and Territory...

Atheists disturbed over religious discrimination by NSW Government

The NSW government has rejected the nomination of Sydney Atheists President, Steve Marton, to sit on its newly devised Faith Affairs Council.  According to the most recent Census, one third of the NSW population is non-religious.  But the views of this large...

What do “human rights” mean to you?

The Human Rights Commission has released a video marking 10th December as the 75th anniversary of the Declaration for Human Rights. The video features several people stating what human rights mean to them, including Steve Marton who currently serves on the Atheist...

Atheist applies for seat on new NSW Religious Affairs Council

President of Sydney Atheists and Committee Member of The Atheist Foundation of Australia, Steve Marton, has applied for nomination to the NSW Government’s inaugural Faith Affairs Council.  The Minns Government has called for a 16-member council to be set up to provide...
Secularism Australia Conference

Secularism Australia Conference

With guest speakers already sharing their excitement surrounding the Secularism Australia Conference, we would like to offer you the opportunity to purchase tickets at the discounted early-bird rate, which will conclude on Saturday 7 October. The early-bird rate of...
Religious Affiliation in Australia

See what we’ve been up to

The Atheist Foundation of Australia Committee would like to thank for your support. We also like to update you of two of our important and successful achievements in the last two years. In 2021, we took a leading role in association with six other free-thought...

Atheism is not a religion, mark “no religion”

As you know, the Australian Government is conducting a census of the population on the 10th August 2021. The census is an important snapshot of the country and informs government and businesses in their decision making. Census data is used to plan and deliver services...

Census21 No Religion Campaign Rejects Fake News and Fearmongering

The Census No Religion campaign is aware of a particularly hateful and misleading message circulating on social media, by email and SMS text message. The message suggests that non-religious people should incorrectly record that they are religious or face the...

Census No Religion Campaign

On the 10th of August, a census is being conducted to collect important data on the circumstances and attitudes of the Australian people. Your friends and family will be asked if they hold religious beliefs, and it’s an important...

Religious Discrimination Bill is resurrected

In a recent webinar with Family Voice Australia, Kevin Andrews (Liberal Party Back Bencher) indicated that "compromise had been reached" regarding the proposed Religious Discrimination Bill, and that it would be introduced into the Parliament "shortly". Mr. Andrews...

Religious Freedom Bill Submission

Religious Discrimination Bill – Second Exposure Draft Date: 19 January 2020 Submission type: Non-Profit – Atheist Foundation Of Australia and Sydney Atheists Email: [email protected] Confidentiality: For Public Release The Atheist Foundation of...

Submission to the Australian Bureau of Statistics – Review of 2021 Census Topics

The question on religion in the Australian Census contains an element which is problematical in obtaining accurate figures. The problem is that it asks “What is the person’s religion?” This is a leading question and can elicit a religion of baptism when the person may...

Campaigns

Census No Religion

The current census data does not accurately reflect our country’s religious views.

This is due to a large number of Australians marking that they belong to a religion in the census when in fact they no longer practise or hold those beliefs.

Census data is used by the government and many other organisations to inform a wide range of important decisions from the amount of public funding religious organisations receive, to the voice and influence religion is given in public affairs and media.

The next Australian Census will be held in August 2026 and we need it to accurately reflect what Australians truly believe.

So, when you’re filling in the census and you come to the question of religion, this is your chance to think carefully and decide whether you still see yourself as religious.

If you don’t see yourself as religious anymore, this census, mark ‘No Religion’.

Visit the Campaign Web Site

Our Philosophy

The Atheist Foundation of Australia recognises the scientific method as the only rational means toward understanding reality. To question and critically examine all ideas, testing them in the light of experiment, leads to the discovery of facts.

As there seems to be no scientific evidence for supernatural phenomena, atheists reject belief in ‘God’, gods, and other supernatural beings. The universe, the world in which we live, and the evolution of life seem to be entirely natural occurrences.

No personality or mind can exist without the process of living matter to sustain it. We have only one life – here and now. All that remains after a person dies is the memory of their life and deeds in the minds of those who remain.

Atheists reject superstition and prejudice along with the irrational fears they cause. We recognise the complexity and interdependence of life on this planet. As rational and ethical beings we accept the challenge of making a creative and responsible contribution to life.

Past AFA Members

I cannot be angry at God, in whom I do not believe.

Simone de Beauvoir 
Simone de Beauvoir

I’m an atheist, and that’s it. I believe there’s nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for other people.

Katharine Hepburn 
Katharine Hepburn

Suppose we’ve chosen the wrong god. Every time we go to church we’re just making him madder and madder.

Homer Simpson 
Homer Simpson

Our ignorance is God; what we know is science.

Robert G. Ingersoll 
Robert G. Ingersoll

The sciences are not sectarian. People do not persecute each other on account of disagreements in mathematics. Families are not divided about botany and astronomy does not even tend to make a man hate his father and mother. It is what people do not know that they persecute each other about. Science will bring, not a sword, but peace.

Robert G. Ingersoll 
Robert G. Ingersoll

A lie is a lie even if everyone believes it. The truth is the truth even if no one believes it.

 

It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.

Mark Twain 
Mark Twain

Existentialism isn’t so atheistic that it wears itself out showing that God doesn’t exist. Rather, it declares that even if God did exist, that would change nothing.

Jean-Paul Sartre 
Jean-Paul Sartre

If God has spoken, why is the world not convinced.

Percy Bysshe Shelley 
Percy Bysshe Shelley

My mother was Southern Irish, and I was brought up as a devout Catholic. In fact, at one point I thought I’d become a priest, but I’d have made an appalling priest anyway… At 16, I asked all these monks some serious questions and they didn’t come up with the answers, and I just decided I didn’t believe in God.

Joe Simpson 
Joe Simpson