ion. Most students when graduated from a secondary school go attend a college or university.The Australian Constitution forbids a state religion and guarantees religious freedom. The great majority are Christians, but many do not attend church regularly. Roman Catholics make up 30 percent and Protestant 23 percent.Outdoor sports in Australia are extremely popular. Many people enjoy skin diving, surfing, swimming, and boating, as well as golf and tennis. Team sports are a national pastime. Australians started to play team sports in elementary school and many continue through high school and even after school. Best players work their way up through local and state competitions to spots on the national teams. Australias professional sports have large enthusiastic followings.AboriginesThe ancestors of the first people in Australia are called Aborigines, and are of the mongoloid race. The name comes from the Latin phrase ab origine, meaning from the beginning. Most scientists believe todays Aborigine descendents came to Australia about 40,000 years ago from southwest Asia. By the time Europeans arrived, 500 tribes each with their own language had formed.Aborigines traditionally lived by hunting and gathering. They did not settle but were nomadic people over limited areas of the countryside and made tools and utensils from local resources. The mens most important weapon was their spear. Women gathered vegetables and small animals.Australias first people live close to nature and knew the habits of all plants and animals around them. All adult Aborigines knew they would find water in their territory. Little girls went out and gathered with their mothers and other women and young boys started practicing throwing toy spears quite early as little boys.The tribe size depended partly how much food and water they had on their territory. A tribe had no political chief or formal government, but older respected men made important decisions. Every tribe ...
