A Buddhist temple in Brisbane appreciates Hindu Council of Australia (HCA)’s presence at their annual Multi-Faith prayer for peace and harmony. Mr Surendra Prasad has been attending this event every year for the last 6 years on behalf of HCA.
Hindu Council organised a multi-faith Eco-Forum in 2011
Hindu Council organised a multi-faith Eco-Forum in 2011
Hindu Council helped prepare and launch the Hindu Climate Action Kit
Hindu Council has also been involved in ARRCC’s Advocacy work with the federal politicians in Canberra
Association with Faith Ecology Network (FEN) – FEN is an interfaith network of people connecting faith with ecological awareness and care. HCA has participated with FEN since 2008 as an active member of its Working Group, participating in its annual seminars, prayer vigils and other promotional activities.
Association with FoodFaith – FoodFaith aims to build bridges across different faith, cultural and community groups through our shared learnings and practices of food and sustainability. Hindu 
Council has been associated right from the launch of the FoodFaith initiative in March, 2015.
HCA’s Shri Sai Paravastu and family has been involved in setting up the Community Garden in Lane Cove.
Hindus missing out Big time on School Chaplaincy
The National School Chaplaincy Programme (NSCP), is an Australian federal government programme which funds chaplains in Australian primary and secondary schools. The chaplains are to provide “support and guidance about ethics, values, relationships and spirituality”.[1] The grants are $20,000 a year for schools and $24,000 for schools in remote areas.[2]
Hindus are missing out big time on School Chaplaincy. Hindu students form 2.5% of school students in NSW but there is not a single known Hindu Chaplain in any of the schools.
While the NSCP is formally not religion-specific, the chaplains employed under the programme are disproportionately Christian. In 2011, one study stated that 96.5% of the chaplains employed under the programme were Christian, while only 64% of Australians identified as Christian (based on the 2006 census). By contrast, 0.01% of the chaplains were secular, whereas 19% of Australians identified as having no religion. Buddhism, the second largest religion, is followed by 2% of Australians, but only 0.03% of the school chaplains. Islam was followed by 1.7% of Australians, but only 0.9% of school chaplains. Judaism is the only religion which had a roughly proportionate representation, with 0.45% of the Australian population following the religion, and 0.5% of school chaplains.
(Source Wikipedia and Census)
A review of Australia’s religious freedoms
Philip Ruddock appointed to conduct review of Australia’s religious freedoms
Fergus Hunter
Published: November 22 2017 – 8:10AM
The government has appointed Howard-era cabinet minister Philip Ruddock to lead a review into the legal protections for religious freedom in Australia, which has emerged as a contentious issue inside the Coalition ahead of the legalisation of same-sex marriage.
Announcing the review, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said recent proposals for religious protections went beyond the immediate issue of marriage and warned any change should be undertaken carefully.
“There is a high risk of unintended consequences when Parliament attempts to legislate protections for basic rights and freedoms, such as freedom of religion. The government is particularly concerned to prevent uncertainties caused by generally worded Bill of Rights-style declarations,” Mr Turnbull said.
Since the Australian people backed same-sex marriage in the postal survey, Coalition MPs have been pushing various proposals for religious exemptions, including allowing service providers to boycott weddings that conflict with their faith. One proposal would see a section of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights incorporated into the same-sex marriage bill.
Debate over the raft of proposed amendments has risked derailing the government’s plans to legislate the change by the end of 2017.
Mr Ruddock, who retired from Parliament in 2016 and was recently elected as mayor of Hornsby, will conduct the review with an expert panel consisting of the president of the Australian Human Rights Commission Rosalind Croucher, retired federal court judge Annabelle Bennett and Jesuit priest Frank Brennan.
The Prime Minister said the review, which will report back by March 2018, would be a “timely expert stocktake” to inform any future legislation.
Treasurer Scott Morrison, a vocal advocate for religious exemptions, said he was pleased with the review and emphasised it was “not a substitute” for relevant amendments to the same-sex marriage bill.
“Those amendments … will still be pursued and, as you know, I have a view that they should be supported,” Mr Morrison told ABC radio.
As the last attorney-general of the Howard government, Mr Ruddock introduced the 2004 amendment to the Marriage Act that explicitly defined it as a union between a man and a woman.
He was recently the government’s special envoy for human rights and has strong connections to Australia’s multicultural and religious communities.
This story was found at: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/philip-ruddock-appointed-to-conduct-review-of-australias-religious-freedoms-20171121-gzq9cl.html
Karma Kitchen gets invited to Food Faith Harmony Day
In recognition of Karma Kitchen project of Hindu Council, FoodFaith has invited Karma Kitchen to join Blacktown Harmony Day celebration on Wednesday, March 21st, at Bowman Hall. The event will be from 11am to 1pm (possibly starting earlier.)
The event is being organized by a number of organisations including Blacktown Council, SydWest, FoodFaith, FEN, TAFE, Relationships Australia and Settlement Services.
The ‘Breaking Bread’ initiative that FoodFaith is co-ordinating as part of Harmony Day involves different cultures and faiths presenting samples of their breads with accompanying information on its history, uses, customs, associated festivals, sustainability elements and recipes. Hindu Council Karma Kitchen would bring along enough ‘pieces’ to feed a few hundred people. Karma Kitchen may also provide herbs or spices for a communal dip or spice for a collaborative symbol.
Hindu Council has been involved right from the launch of the FoodFaith initiative in March, 2015 by Judith Friedlander, Senior Researcher at the UTS Institute for Sustainable Future. I have been in contact with her for many years in connection with our campaign to reduce meat consumption. I was one of the Faith Leaders who spoke at the launch ceremony.
Mr Sai Paravastu of Karma Kitchen has been involved in setting up the Community Garden in Lane Cove, setup and being run by the FoodFaith group.
Mr Sai Parvastu and Vijai Singhal, Director Hindu Council would be representing Hindu Council in this event.
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