Governor-General Michael Jeffery's call for more religion in schools has been rejected by Victorian educators who say that state schools already teach values and give students access to religious education.
The president of the Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals, Andrew Blair, said he was staggered by Major-General Jeffery's comments.
"Unquestionably there is a need for some values-based education in schools but it should not be a single religious experience nor should it be dogma-based."
Victoria already includes optional religious education in all primary schools and an increasing number of schools, mainly at secondary level, employ chaplains.
These services are largely provided by the Council for Christian Education in Schools, which has trained and accredited 4000 volunteers to give religious instruction.
Jewish, Catholic and Islamic classes can be taught at the request of school communities and are accredited separately.
Neville Carr, the chief executive of the CCES, said that there had been increased interest in appointing chaplains to schools as a response to young people's need to make sense of the world in uncertain times.
While the primary school curriculum covers stories central to Judeo-Christian beliefs, the emphasis in the 58 secondary schools with chaplains is on non-denominational values.
Brighton Secondary College chaplain Peter Mangold, said that the problem with the Governor-General's comments was that "a lot of people would read them as imposing a particular ideology".
Chaplains in state schools had to take a broader approach. "You cannot have someone imposing a Christian ideology on people in a state school," he said.
Mr Mangold said that, while the role of chaplain was "intrinsically religious", he saw an important part of his work as helping young people make sense of the world around them.
"That is, I think, a religious activity. It is honouring the inner journey... but it is not necessarily imposing a belief on anyone."
The Victorian president of the Australian Education Union, Mary Bluett, said: "You can teach values outside the religious context. We do it every day. Students are taught to value diversity, not only to tolerate it but to actually celebrate differences in terms of culture and religion."
Gail McHardy, president of Parents Victoria, said she was intrigued by the Governor-General's comments but that religious studies was not the solution. "We would advocate the promotion of civics and democracy in the existing curriculum in the interests of community," she said.
A spokesman for Education Minister Lynne Kosky said that there were protocols surrounding religious education in government schools and the extent to which it took place was a decision for individual schools.