ABSTRACT
The third sector is an important part of Australia’s education industry. Private, or non-government, schools educate 29 per cent of Australian children. The reason for Australia’s large nonprofit schools sector lies in the nineteenth-century insistence by Australia’s Catholic bishops that the children of Catholic parents be educated in Catholic schools. Most Catholic schools, those that are part of the Catholic school systems administered by Catholic Education Offices in each diocese, now receive more from government grants than they do from fees. Schools that are part of church-run systems are governed a little like their state school counterparts: only a limited autonomy is given to each school. Many government technical and further education providers offer some ‘hobby’ programs that would be described as community education. Some of the blossoming business and language colleges are nonprofits and of course most continuing professional education is organised by professional associations.
