> Australian faith based schools cover all faiths, not just Christian ones. Where a madrassa isn't established some Islamic kids go to catholic schools out of parental choice, their monotheism is at least partially respected.
I know there are Jewish and Muslim schools in big cities like Sydney and Melbourne, but not where I live. Where I live, your private schooling choices are basically Catholic, Anglican, Adventist, a couple of variations on non-denom Protestant, "vaguely Christian but super-expensive school for the upper class", Steiner, and some (mostly small) secular schools which focus on children with different needs (autism, disability, "just not fitting-in in a mainstream environment", etc)
My Catholic high school had lots of Protestants, and also a Jewish girl. I know the Catholic school we send our kids to has at least a couple of Muslim families. But, for Jews and Muslims, I think that is only really an option for some of the relatively secular or moderate; I expect many of the more strict would not agree to sending their kids to a school where their children are exposed (even just passively) to Christian prayer and religious services. Whereas, state schools, there is significantly less of that passive exposure (even if it isn't always possible to opt out of it 100%)
The Catholic schools have an "arrangement" with the Eastern Orthodox Church, according to which they officially give preference to Orthodox kids, after Catholics, but before Protestants and non-Christians. (I'm not sure if the arrangement is mutual, but there are so few Orthodox schools, that question
only has practical relevance to a small minority.)
> State schools are meant to be mostly agnostic/athiest except they can run R.E. classes but local staff can (and do) proselytise, and State authorities do little about it.
There is a historical reason for this. At least in New South Wales (and I believe other states too), the public school system started through a deal between the colonial government and the major Protestant churches – the Protestant churches handed over their schools to the government, in exchange the churches would retain the right to do religious education in them. Although the deal was made almost 150 years ago, the churches involved insist the government stick to it. (It isn't legally binding, so the government could legally break it if they wanted, but politically they aren't going there.)
> A notorious instance was a Jewish school head who groomed students, got found out, absconded to Israel and was defended by politically astute religious to avoid extradition for years.
A lot of that was due to a belief in Orthodox Judaism that it is a sin to take Jewish community issues to non-Jewish courts – I think most Orthodox Jews do not think that rule should apply nowadays, at least not to serious crimes, but this school was ultra-Orthodox/Haredi, a community in which some still seem to think it should. I don't think that specific issue is really applicable more broadly, since even though you'll read some rather similar stuff in the New Testament, mainstream Christian churches have long chosen to ignore it.
I know there are Jewish and Muslim schools in big cities like Sydney and Melbourne, but not where I live. Where I live, your private schooling choices are basically Catholic, Anglican, Adventist, a couple of variations on non-denom Protestant, "vaguely Christian but super-expensive school for the upper class", Steiner, and some (mostly small) secular schools which focus on children with different needs (autism, disability, "just not fitting-in in a mainstream environment", etc)
My Catholic high school had lots of Protestants, and also a Jewish girl. I know the Catholic school we send our kids to has at least a couple of Muslim families. But, for Jews and Muslims, I think that is only really an option for some of the relatively secular or moderate; I expect many of the more strict would not agree to sending their kids to a school where their children are exposed (even just passively) to Christian prayer and religious services. Whereas, state schools, there is significantly less of that passive exposure (even if it isn't always possible to opt out of it 100%)
The Catholic schools have an "arrangement" with the Eastern Orthodox Church, according to which they officially give preference to Orthodox kids, after Catholics, but before Protestants and non-Christians. (I'm not sure if the arrangement is mutual, but there are so few Orthodox schools, that question only has practical relevance to a small minority.)
> State schools are meant to be mostly agnostic/athiest except they can run R.E. classes but local staff can (and do) proselytise, and State authorities do little about it.
There is a historical reason for this. At least in New South Wales (and I believe other states too), the public school system started through a deal between the colonial government and the major Protestant churches – the Protestant churches handed over their schools to the government, in exchange the churches would retain the right to do religious education in them. Although the deal was made almost 150 years ago, the churches involved insist the government stick to it. (It isn't legally binding, so the government could legally break it if they wanted, but politically they aren't going there.)
> A notorious instance was a Jewish school head who groomed students, got found out, absconded to Israel and was defended by politically astute religious to avoid extradition for years.
A lot of that was due to a belief in Orthodox Judaism that it is a sin to take Jewish community issues to non-Jewish courts – I think most Orthodox Jews do not think that rule should apply nowadays, at least not to serious crimes, but this school was ultra-Orthodox/Haredi, a community in which some still seem to think it should. I don't think that specific issue is really applicable more broadly, since even though you'll read some rather similar stuff in the New Testament, mainstream Christian churches have long chosen to ignore it.