An article on the front page of The Canberra Times on this day in 1971 featured a discussion about habits, but not the nail-biting or teeth-brushing kind.
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Instead, the habits mentioned in the article were about the long, loose garment worn by members of a religious order.
Three sisters of the Sacred Heart Society in Canberra told The Canberra Times that the possibility of wearing secular clothing had to be adapted to local needs and situations.
The Canberra sisters lived in a suburban house in Downer, which they said, brought them closer to "ordinary people".
Two of the sisters were students and the third was a teacher.
The policy of the society in Canberra had been for students to wear contemporary dress of their own choice and for teaches to wear modified habits or religious garments.
The sisters stressed that the decision of the society to permit secular clothing was not a gimmick but the result of a genuine belief that it would bring them closer to the rest of the community.
Dressed in skirts and jumpers or simple frocks, the sisters were distinguished from other members of the public only by a silver crucifix brooch.
When teaching, the sisters could modify their dress by wearing a veil. Sisters who wished to wear habits could do so but it was no longer compulsory.
See https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110341631
