The Australian national curriculum draft continues to attract criticism for its changes to history and civics, which has removed references to Australia’s democratic and Christian heritage and increased the amount of content relating to the perspectives of Aboriginal Australians. Jacinta Collins, the executive director of the National Catholic Education, said the Catholic sector supported the review’s intent to produce a curriculum that “focuses on essential knowledge and skills.” “In relation to potential changes to the teaching of Christian heritage, we would be concerned if broadening the curriculum to be more encompassing of other faiths and the teaching of Indigenous culture and history comes at the expense of Judeo-Christian heritage,” Collins told The Epoch Times. She referred to the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration (pdf), which highlighted the important role education has in the development of young Australians, including spirituality, and believed the new curriculum should adopt that approach. “Humanities is richly …