Source: Baha'i World News Service

http://news.bahai.org/story.cfm?storyid=361

On April 8, 2005 the Baha'i World News Service reported, "About 6,000 primary school children in Australia are attending Baha'i classes, which are offered in more than 300 state-run schools. The classes are offered mainly to provide religious instruction to Baha'i children. Yet more than 90 percent of the children in Baha'i classes are from families who are not members of the Baha'i Faith -- indicating the wide appeal of the Baha'i approach to religious education...Australian parents have the option of enrolling their children in Special Religious Education courses at state schools, thanks in part to a century-old law requiring schools to offer religious training if parents want it. As might be expected in Australia where some 70 percent of the population identify themselves as Christian, many more children attend religious classes offered by Christians in state schools. Classes are also offered in by Buddhist and Muslim groups, among others."