Political, market and historical forces within Australia have produced a supportive environment for creating a new marketplace for schools, including those that are affiliated with a range of different faiths. Indeed, this sector has now become a significant feature of the Australian educational landscape. This article argues that the increasing significance of faith-based schools in combination with their complexity, distinctiveness and controversy makes them a particularly fertile setting for research endeavour; an endeavour which seems to have become an imperative, given that current understandings of these schools are heavily influenced by the media. (Contains 3 tables.)