The question of how much religious schools contribute to the preparation of their students for citizenship has long been debated and empirical evidence has been mixed. A national Australian survey, "Contributing to Australian Society," conducted in 2016 by the Christian Research Association, provided the opportunity for a quantitative study comparing the graduates of government, Catholic, independent high-fee, and low fee Christian school systems in their patterns of informal and formal adult volunteering as expressions of active citizenship. The survey found that the graduates of non-government secondary schools displayed higher rates of both formal and informal volunteering. However, stronger factors in graduate volunteering were parental volunteering and volunteering at school or in religious organizations.