Faculty of Education - Theses

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The enactment and operation of the 1950 amendment to the Victorian Education Act

Newell, Phillip K. ( 1968)

Prior to the passing of the Education (Religious Instruction) Act 1950, religious instruction was permitted in State schools in Victoria, but had to be given outside the hours prescribed for secular instruction. Within these limitations, representatives of the non-Roman Catholic Churches provided basically non-sectarian teaching under the auspices of the Joint Council for Religious Instruction in State Schools. The 1940's, however, saw a growing dissatisfaction in the Churches with the secular nature of the Education Act and a desire for statutory recognition of the place of religion in the education of children. Through the Joint Council and its successor, the Council for Christian Education in Schools, and through a series of conferences of the Heads of Churches begun in 1943, negotiations were initiated in order to seek common ground for an approach to the Government. The Anglican desire for segregation and the unstable political situation were the biggest obstacles to progress. By 1950, after protracted negotiations and many disappointments, the member-Churches of the Council for Christian Education in Schools had reached agreement, and with Roman Catholic support, secured the 1950 Amendment.