The Council of Australian Humanist Societies (CAHS) is the national umbrella organisation for Australian humanists. It is affiliated with the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU). The official symbol of CAHS (and all member organisations) is the Happy Human.
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CAHS publishes a quarterly journal, the Australian Humanist and awards the Australian Humanist of the Year (AHOY) annually and the Outstanding Humanist Achiever when warranted.
Recent winners of the Australian Humanist of the Year include Gareth Evans (1990), Robyn Williams (1993), William Hayden (1996), Philip Nitschke (1998), Peter Singer (2004), Tim Flannery (2005) and Peter Cundall (2006), Lyn Alison (2010) and Dr Leslie Cannold (2011).
CAHS holds an annual CAHS convention, usually hosted by one of the member organisations.
CAHS hosts the Humanist Internet Discussion Group where Humanists can share their thoughts on issues of interest.
All member organisations of the IHEU are required by IHEU bylaw 5.1 to accept [1] the IHEU Minimum statement on Humanism:
The Australian national census categorises Humanism as "No Religion". The 16% of Australians that fall within this category include other non-theistic life stances such as atheism, agnosticism and rationalism.
In 1983, the High Court defined religion as a complex of beliefs and practices which point to a set of values and an understanding of the meaning of existence.