... was able to establish "parish" schools for those of the Catholic faith. 10 years later, the Australian government made it easier by giving out small grants to buy land for establishing schools. These schools were staffed by lay-preachers, and by 1870, the grants became more common. In 1872, the Victorian government passed the "Free, Secular and Compulsory" Education Act, which ... criteria that these students are not compulsorily required to share the faith or religious beliefs of the Catholic school system. That, perhaps, is the greatest change in the Catholic school curriculum of all....

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