In the first public lecture for 2013 for the Centre for Ethics on Wednesday 6 March in the Old Boys Lecture Theatre, Associate Professor at La Trobe University Dr David Tacey spoke about spirituality in Australia. He suggested that although Australia appears to be increasingly secular, there is a spirituality that is “beneath notice” – an unconscious spirituality that connects people to “place”.

Dr Tacey, whose area of study is in religion and spirituality, was raised as a Catholic in Central Australia. Tacey has also been influenced by Aboriginal spirituality and spoke of his own spiritual connection to the land. He recounted in the lecture, that upon beginning university study and moving to the city, he was warned by his father that academia would take him away from his spirituality. This tension between spirituality and the modern world remained a constant enquiry throughout his lecture

Dr Tacey said that many of his students consider themselves spiritual but not religious. Quoting figures from the latest census, Dr Tacey questioned whether the measure for analysing how religious we are is too rigid and not up to date with contemporary values and trends. He argued that while there is less involvement in traditional religious practices today, our artists, poets and composers such as Les Murray, Patrick White and Peter Sculthorpe have created works that are increasingly mystical and metaphysical. The absence of the sacred in Australian life has been compensated for by artists, writers, poets and musicians who express spirituality through the creative arts.

Dr Tacey’s lecture was the first of the 2013 Centre for Ethics Public Lecture Program hosted by Head of Philosophy and Religious Studies Dr Jeremy Hall. The next lecture will be on the ethics of judging led by guest speaker, the Honorable Michael Kirby on Wednesday 1 May.

The Centre for Ethics at Newington College is in its fourth year after a successful program in 2012 featuring luminaries such as Rev. Tim Costello and ABC journalist Annabel Crabb. The centre provides a forum for students, teachers, parents and the wider community, to engage in discussion of contemporary moral issues, beliefs and values. Through its public lectures, workshops and conferences, the Centre aims to promote critical and creative thinking, inter-cultural understanding and serious engagement with the moral issues facing young Australians in the 21st century.