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The First Catholics arrived in Australia during the first fleet. 10% were from Ireland.
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First Catholic priests arrived in the colony as convicts.
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1833-1860's Catholic schools in Australia had some government assistance.
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1872-1893 All states passed Educational Acts removing state aid. With no money to pay staff, the bishops appealed the religious orders in Ireland and other European countries/Nuns/Sisters and brothers.
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John Bede Polding was the first bishop. Polding's priests were mainly Irish. There was a conflict between Polding's vision and their ideas. Irish clergy dominated Australia Catholic life until very recently.Untill finaly the 1930's Australian borne priests outnumbered them.
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1950's the number of Catholics, brothers, nuns and priests increased dramaticly. Catholics improved their socio-economic status. There was a sugnificantly high level of attendance at Mass.
Many Catholics belonged to Catholic groups and the devotion to the rosary was common throughout this time. -
1960 and 1970's: Influx of non-English speaking immigrants including one million plus Catholics from Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Germany, Croatia, Hungary and numerous other places. Ideas and practices came into conflicts with irish background.
