Census night is coming. Millions of Australians still mark a religion they were raised in — not one they live by. The result is a national portrait that’s out of date. Take note and remember the attitude of our leading religions to VAD and our terminally ill below. censusnoreligion.org.au

Census 26 Home Page — Census26

This Census, you’ll be asked if you have religious beliefs, and it’s your chance to think carefully about whether you still do. If you’re no longer religious, mark ‘No Religion'.

censusnoreligion.org.au

National Secular Lobby@secularlobby.bsky.social · last wk.

Archbishop Peter Comensoli has urged Anthony Albanese to retain the Commonwealth VAD telehealth ban — which threatens doctors with a $364,000 fine for "inciting or counselling" suicide by a carriage service — after Labor delegates voted to overturn it. #auspol cathnews.com/2026/07/27/r...

The ban needs to go asap. Terminally ill Aussies pay the cost - especially our rural & remote. Tom's docs travelled 8,500 km in 3 weeks. And the medication didn't reach Tom in time. @albomp.bsky.social explain which of those km protected Tom or made him safer? www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07...

Should there be a telehealth ban on voluntary assisted dying?

Sarah Ferguson presents Australia's premier daily current affairs program, delivering agenda-setting public affairs journalism and interviews that hold the powerful to account. Plus political analysis...

abc.net.au

For preventative measures / how to reduce your dementia and cognitive decline risk check out the WHO recommendations 👇

Aging Well Institute@awi-bu.bsky.social · 3w ago

Dementia: New WHO guidelines show how to prevent up to 45% of cases flip.it/yZbbu_

It might be a bad summer of bushfires coming up. Better take note.

Dr Satoshi Akima, FRACP@toshiakima.bsky.social · 3w ago

The surgical mask shown in this article will do almost nothing to reduce particulate inhalation because it's just a splash guard. Wear a well-fitted respirator N95 or better

Be sure to catch your weekend NSL wrap. ...What this week produced was a set of stories about the terms of religious privilege & religious protection: who is exempt, whose offence carries weight, whose money is making a difference, and whom the state chooses to shield." Check it out & lend a hand.

National Secular Lobby@secularlobby.bsky.social · 3w ago

Welcome to the 18 July 2026 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues! #auspol #secularism www.nsl.org.au/columns/week...

“Funding for healthcare, welfare, education and the environment will be raided. These resources should be directed to the social and economic needs of workers and the Australian people.” 50,000 plus signatories. Please sign the petition.

3wombats@3wombats.bsky.social · 3w ago

c.org/nWMBJwx6KS

And now it’s the UK’s turn to show their terminally ill the compassion and empathy they deserve. The laws work safely with guardrails here in Aust. They can do the same in the UK. Do it. Get it done.

My Death, My Decision@mydeathmydecision.bsky.social · 3w ago

France has legalised assisted dying. UK Parliament must take notice. Our own Bill returns to the Commons on 11 September, and terminally ill people here are still waiting. www.mydeath-mydecision.org.uk/2026/07/15/f...

Well done France too!

Lauren Edwards MP@laurenedwardsmp.bsky.social · 3w ago

French MPs have today voted to create a right to assisted dying 👇 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Well done Jersey!

Dignity in Dying@dignityindying.org.uk · 4w ago

BREAKING: Jersey first in UK and Crown Dependencies to legalise assisted dying. Today's victory for compassion will be an enormous relief to dying people and families across Jersey.

More Britons are turning to Dignitas. UK membership rose from 1,409 in 2020 to 2,385 in 2025, a rise of ~69%. Dying people should not have to leave the country for compassion. UK MP's need to pass the assisted dying laws ASAP. The majority want the laws passed. VAD works here in Qld. Just do it.

My Death, My Decision@mydeathmydecision.bsky.social · 3w ago

“Just go to Switzerland” is not a compassionate answer. For some terminally ill people, travelling abroad is the only legal route to an assisted death, but that can mean finding the money, arranging the paperwork and leaving home while seriously ill. 🧵👇🏽

And the ABS and census was politicised by the Catholic Archbishops and @albomp.bsky.social over the religion question. Yes neither claim is valid, and the ABS and the census will overstate it 10%. So when the ABS becomes a political tool, the statistics and science are not to be trusted are they?

Blakandblack @blakandblack.bsky.social · 3w ago

Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson say Australia is a Christian, British monoculture. Section 116 says no religion was ever established. The census says Christian affiliation has collapsed from 61% to 44% in a decade. Neither claim survives contact with the evidence blakandblack.com/2026/07/15/t...

Because we voters and our kids who get hooked on gambling do not count. CEO's of corporations count. Not us. We do not count in @albomp.bsky.social eyes.

Dr Monique Ryan@mon4kooyong.bsky.social · last mo.

Why won't the PM listen to the rest of the country, not just the NRL, AFL, gambling companies and broadcasters?

Our federal parliamentarians oversee this travesty. It's an asset stripping industry by corporations preying on all us older Australians. Tax gas exports 50% then let's have a free regulated universal aged care system for all senior Australians.

Marcus Kelson@marcuskelson.bsky.social · 3w ago

This is totally outrageous - many of us, who l describe as the sandwich generation, ageing parents, adult kids, have to negotiate so many troubled waters with this sort of exploitative rubbish … www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

@australianlabor.bsky.social governs for corporations, religious institutions, AUKUS / the USA military complex, and donors who can pay the price of an exclusive dinner with cabinet members. Should we expect such a govt to look out for us people, the voters, and our kids? Nah.

Fusion Party Australia@fusionparty.org.au · 3w ago

The govt knows gambling ads hook kids. Murphy report called for a total ban. Instead we get weak restrictions in 2027. 90% of young pokie users harmed now. Whose lobbyists wrote this delay? #auspol #gamblingharm theconversation.com/...

$21 billion will get us a lot of Telehealth for VAD. @jimchalmers.bsky.social and @albomp.bsky.social et al refuse to allow Telehealth for VAD for our terminally ill Australians. Maybe they should stop meeting with AI CEO's and go visit some of our terminally ill Australians instead?

Greg Jericho@grogsgamut.bsky.social · 3w ago

$21bn investment is a bullshit figure that won’t generate actual jobs of economic activity that actually improves lives. Tell them to fuck off www.afr.com/politics/fed...

We hope you caught the NSL weekend wrap over the weekend. If not, catch up today. There's a lot of (nasty) stuff going on, and a lot of good people fighting it. Stay across the issues and lend a hand if you can. VAD gets a few mentions including VAD in aged care, and the Telehealth ban for VAD.

National Secular Lobby@secularlobby.bsky.social · 4w ago

Welcome to the 11 July 2026 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues! #auspol #secularism www.nsl.org.au/columns/week...

“The data would not be comparable with data from previous censuses” so the % religious is in error by +10% Instead of a better answer for the future we need to be able to compare now to the rearview past. So statistics of the census are wrong. Should we even trust anything from ABS? Or census?

Census – Not Religious? Mark 'No Religion'.@censusnotreligious.bsky.social · 4w ago

The Guardian reports that a new poll commissioned by our campaign confirms that the question used in the Census overstates Australia's religiosity — by more than 10 per cent. #Census26 #NotReligious www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

The cost of not allowing Telehealth for VAD is a human one, paid in unrelieved pain and intolerable suffering by our terminally ill. Like Terry: www.nine.com.au/australia-ne...

The ‘outdated’ law denying some dying Aussies a peaceful end

Terry Hargreaves spent weeks suffering at home, and deserved a better death, his daughter says.

nine.com.au

Queenslanders for End of Life Legal Options@q4eollo.fyi · 4w ago

We are into year 2 of the 2nd term of Albo’s govt. We are still waiting for Telehealth to be allowed for VAD tasks. It's a one line fix in the law!!! Our terminally ill Aussies, especially rural & remote patients, bear this cost. It's been over a year @albomp.bsky.social When will you help?

Some aged care providers, such as Uniting, Regis and Bupa, make it clear on their websites that they will support residents who request VAD. Most Catholic providers will not “for moral reasons”. Ask before you commit. Check it out 👇 www.medicalrepublic.com.au/aged-care-pr...

Aged care providers defend anti-VAD stance - Medical Republic

Which aged care providers are ‘wilfully ignoring’ their federal obligations to provide, at the very least, information about voluntary assisted dying?

medicalrepublic.com.au

Finding out too late that your aged care home doesn't support VAD can make it very difficult to make that choice & gain access to VAD. The worst are often religious run, of course, & are also some of the biggest providers in Aust. Ask first! www.gogentleaustralia.org.au/aged_care_re...

Know Your Rights: VAD in Aged Care

Find out if your aged care home supports VAD. Research from Go Gentle Australia shows two thirds of aged care providers don't publish any public information about VAD.

gogentleaustralia.org.au

We are into year 2 of the 2nd term of Albo’s govt. We are still waiting for Telehealth to be allowed for VAD tasks. It's a one line fix in the law!!! Our terminally ill Aussies, especially rural & remote patients, bear this cost. It's been over a year @albomp.bsky.social When will you help?

You need an up-to-date Advance Health Directive (AHD). Here in Qld using the Form 4 makes your wishes legally binding on your substitute decision-maker. If you have no AHD, your family and Drs may do whatever they like while you have no capacity. www.publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/powe...

"The first is that serious illness conversations don’t happen anywhere near as often as warranted. This failing comes at an enormous cost to the patient and society. " Great idea: Put your AHD on your fridge door! 👇 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

No doctor wants to have this conversation with a patient. For everyone’s sake, we must | Ranjana Srivastava

Holistic care for incurably ill people has to include discussions about death and dying – but getting there is hard

theguardian.com

Australians are being urged to tackle the morbid subjects we all avoid - from organ donations to palliative care wishes for Dying To Know Day on August 8. And our north Qld mates are leading the way and having a picnic to discuss it and celebrate! 👏👏 www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news/townsvi...

The AMA wants Telehealth use for VAD. Anthony @albomp.bsky.social says "No". AG Rowland says "No". AMA Calls for Legal Change to Allow Telehealth Use in Voluntary Assisted Dying Discussions. 👇 medtree.com.au/news/ama-cal...

Catch your weekend wrap from NSL👇 there's a ton going on Aust wide. Re VAD: 👉 The NT VAD bill remains on track for introduction mid-2026 👉 Dying With Dignity NSW & Go Gentle are working on the ban on Telehealth for VAD tasks. All it'd take is a ONE LINE fix. "No" says @albomp.bsky.social #auspol

National Secular Lobby@secularlobby.bsky.social · last mo.

Welcome to the 4 July 2026 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues! #auspol #secularism www.nsl.org.au/columns/week...

This is for anyone who needs to hear this today 💔🤗 #BlueSky #BookSky

So our Labor government spends more time cutting services and payments than increasing or widening them. They sound like UK Labor. They need to go. Make someone like Max Chandler our next PM and this sure wouldn’t happen. And when Max is PM we’ll want Telehealth and Medicare for VAD.

Dr Monique Ryan@mon4kooyong.bsky.social · last mo.

Really concerned to be hearing from constituents about potential cuts to funding for medicines for MS. I’m writing to the Minister today asking for ongoing funding of ocrelizumab and ofatumumab. 13,000 Australians (three-quarters of whom are women) rely on these therapies.

Yeah. Nah. How about zero fee GP visits for all Australians? Totally funded all the way. Tax gas exports at 25% and tax the rich 1% at 80% and then let’s have free medical for all. And then while we’re at it we are still waiting for Telehealth and Medicare coverage for VAD too.

Grattan Institute@grattaninstitute.bsky.social · last mo.

‘Achieving the right balance between fee for service and fixed funding is essential to ensure the benefits of this model are maximised and risks are minimised.’ Read Peter Breadon’s latest analysis, published in Croakey: buff.ly/LlwQfOH