Abstract
In his article, ‘Our Father who art in Town Hall: Do local councils have power to pray?’, Luke Beck considers United Kingdom (UK) case law that found local councils do not have the power to commence their meetings with prayer. He argues the same reasoning applies to Australia’s local councils.
Part One
Purpose: To understand how UK case law can be relevant to Australian legal issues.
Instructions: Work in groups to analyse Beck’s argument, using the following as a guide.
The doctrine of precedent holds that decisions of superior courts within the same jurisdiction are binding, but decisions of courts from other jurisdictions may be persuasive, if their legal system and the relevant issues are similar.
Answer the following questions about both the UK and one or more Australian jurisdictions: How are councils legally established? Does the country have an official religion? Does an Act of Parliament specifically empower councils to pray?
How similar are the legal frameworks? Does this make the precedent more, or less, persuasive?
What were the three reasons that the UK High Court relied on to find that prayers were beyond the power of the Bideford Town Council? Why does Beck argue the same logic applies in Australia today?
Part Two
Purpose: To conduct research about prayer in local councils in Australia.
Background: The article refers to two councils (Blacktown, NSW; Adelaide, SA) that commence their meetings with a Christian prayer.
There are other councils around Australia that do likewise, and others that have chosen not to.
Instructions:
Research to determine whether your local council holds a prayer to open proceedings. If so, what kind of prayer is it? If your local council does not pray, see if you can find another council that does. Use census data to determine the religious demographics of each of your chosen councils. What proportion of the local population shares the religion of the council’s prayer?
Hint: There are many ways you could find this information, though it will vary from council to council. You might use meeting agendas or minutes, watch the start of a council meeting on YouTube, or even call the council to ask.
Part Three
Purpose: To consider the underlying policy question put to one side by the article.
Instructions: Beck opens by stating that his article focuses on the legality of council prayers, and ‘avoids the policy question of whether it is right that in a secular, multi-faith and multicultural society a government should engage in religious rituals as part of its official business’.
Turn now to this question and hold a debate about whether councils should pray.