Catholic schools At least two Catholic schools were established in the early nineteenth century, but neither survived long, and it was only after the arrival of Therry and Connolly in 1820 that significant development has taken place. In 1833 there were about ten Catholic schools in the country. From this period until the late 1860s, Catholic schools received government assistance under a variety of programs, but by the 1850s campaigns for “free, secular, and compulsory” education had begun and It became increasingly clear that Catholic schools would not be able to rely on public aid for much longer. Between 1872 and 1893, each state passed an education law that removed state aid to church schools. This was a turning point for Catholic schools and, indeed, the Catholic community in Australia. Bishops and people decided to persevere with the Catholic system. Without money to pay teachers, bishops appealed to religious orders in Ireland and other European countries, and soon religious nuns and brothers began to respond to the crisis.http://www.catholicaustralia.com.au/page.php ?pg= austchurch-storiaVI. EDUCATION For a certain period all the colonies of the Australasian group followed the example set by New South Wales in granting state aid to the clergy and the denominational schools of the main religious bodies, Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian and Methodist. These grants were withdrawn; immediately or gradually decreasing payments; from South Australia in 1851, after they had been in existence for only three years; from Queensland in 1860; from New South Wales in 1862; from Tasmania and Victoria, in 1875, and from Western Australia, in 1895. State subsidies to denominational schools ceased when the various secular systems came into force: in Victoria in 1872; in Queensland, 1876; in South Australia, 1878; in New South Wales, in 1879; and in Western Australia in 1896. In all Commonwealth states primary education is compulsory. It is also free in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. In New South Wales and Tasmania a small fee is charged, with free education for children whose parents cannot afford to pay them. In Victoria, fees are charged for extra subjects such as accounting, shorthand, Euclid, algebra, Latin, French, etc. Throughout the Commonwealth the illiteracy rate is low. "Of 10,000 children between the ages of five and fifteen, could read and write in 1861, 4,637; in 1871, 5,911; in 1881, 7,058; in 1891, 7,565" (Coghlan and Ewing, Progress of Australasia in the Nineteenth Century , P.