E/CN.4/1998/6/Add.1 page 10 1. (a) Situation of Muslims Religious matters (i) Religious practice and conduct of religious affairs 36. Muslim religious and civilian representatives said how privileged their community was in terms of religion compared to Muslim minorities in other countries and Muslims in Arab countries. They said that Muslims were free to carry out their religious activities, including religious services and traditions, as well as the management of business relating to their religious institutions. They indicated that, contrary to some countries in the Arab world, Australia allowed imams freedom of expression, particularly for the sermons they gave in the mosques. 37. One of the characteristics of Australian Muslims is the importance of religious practice on Fridays and religious holidays. The call to prayer is allowed, but without microphones, except at the end of Ramadan. The Muslim representatives said that they had requested official recognition of religious days so that believers, i.e. adults in the workplace and young people in school, who so wished did not have to work on those days. It was also stated that the authorities approached responded positively to such requests. One representative of the Department of Training and Education in the State of New South Wales said that, if the Muslims insisted, religious holidays could be observed in public schools, as was already the case for the Jewish community. In reply to the Special Rapporteur's question on how requests by minorities could be reconciled with the concerns of the majority, a representative of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission explained that, while the Australian democratic system was based on a general preference for the majority, flexibility, compromise and pragmatism had to be demonstrated, according to the context. 38. During the talks, attention was also drawn to the importance of inter-faith dialogue and the positive and genuine results it had had in society (see subsection (b) (paras. 43-45) below). (ii) Religious teaching 39. The importance of religious education is one of the characteristics of Australian Muslims. The Muslim community has 23 religious schools (Madrassa) for 8,000 students. The teachers are recruited by the community leaders, who pay their salaries. The curriculum has to be in line with Department of Education criteria and includes subjects such as Islam and the Arabic language. State subsidies may be granted to these private schools. With regard to private funding, it was noted that Saudi Arabia is one of the foreign donors, but the policy followed by the representatives of the Australian Muslim community was to accept gifts unconditionally. (iii) Places of worship 40. The Muslim community has 107 mosques and places of worship in Australia. The representatives of the Muslim community and the authorities indicated that, in the past, there had been problems with projects for the building of