Australia is a secular and diverse country and has no state religion. The 2021 Census has revealed increasing diversity in the religions Australians identified.

The largest religion is Christianity and 43.85% of the population follows it. The largest Christian denominations are the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church of Australia.

While fewer people are reporting their religion as Christian, more are reporting ‘no religion’. Almost 40 % of Australia’s population reported having no religion in the 2021 Census.

Other religions are growing but continue to make up a small proportion of the population.  The Non- Christians and other faiths include Islam (3.2%), Hinduism (2.7%), Buddhism (2.4%), Sikhism (0.8%), and Judaism (0.4%). In 2021, just under 8,000 people declared an affiliation with traditional Aboriginal religions.

Let’s look at the Religion/ Affiliations wise population in the 2021 Census.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Christianity in Australia

Christianity is the most common religion in Australia, with 43.9 % identifying as Christian. This has reduced from over 52.1%  in 2016.  The largest Christian denominations are the Roman Catholic Church (20% ) and the Anglican Church of Australia (9.82%) followed by Uniting Church (2.65%) and Eastern Orthodox (2.11%). 

Islam in Australia

Islam in Australia is a minority religious affiliation. According to the 2021 Census in Australia, the number of people who self-identified as Muslims in Australia, from all forms of Islam, constituted 813,392 people, or 3.2% of the total Australian population.

According to the 2016 census, 42% live in Greater Sydney, 31% in Greater Melbourne, and 8% in Greater Perth. The states and territories with the highest proportion of Muslims are New South Wales (3.58%) and Victoria (3.32%), whereas those with the lowest are Queensland (0.95%) and Tasmania (0.49%).

Hinduism in Australia

Hinduism is a minority religion in Australia consisting of more than 684,002 followers, making up 2.7% of the population as of the 2021 census. Hinduism is the fastest-growing religion in Australia mostly through immigration. Hinduism has grown by 55.3 % to 684,002 people or 2.7%  of the population. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the country after Christianity and Islam.

The majority of Australian Hindus live along the Eastern Coast of Australia, mainly in the cities of Melbourne and Sydney. About 39% of Hindus lived in Greater Sydney, 29% in Greater Melbourne, and 8% each in Greater Brisbane and Greater Perth. The states and territories with the highest proportion of Hindus are the Australian Capital Territory (2.57%) and New South Wales (2.43%), whereas those with the lowest are Queensland (0.98%) and Tasmania (0.50%).

Buddhism in Australia

Buddhism in Australia is a minority religion. According to the 2021 census, 2.42%t of the total population of Australia identified as Buddhist.  The highest percentage of Buddhists in Australia is present in Christmas Island, where Buddhists constitute 18.1% of the total population according to the 2016 Census. Buddhism is the fourth-largest religion in the country after Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism.

According to the 2016 census,  33% live in Greater Sydney, 30% in Greater Melbourne, and 8% each in Greater Brisbane and Greater Perth. The states and territories with the highest proportion of Buddhists are Victoria (3.07%) and New South Wales (2.78%), whereas those with the lowest are Queensland (1.51%) and Tasmania (0.79%).

Sikhism in Australia

Sikhism in Australia is a minority religion. According to the 2021 census, 0.83% of the total population of Australia identified as Sikh. The Sikhs form one of the largest subgroups of Indian Australians with 2,10,000 adherents according to the 2021 census.

According to the 2016 census, 39% live in Greater Melbourne, 21% in Greater Sydney, and 10% in Greater Brisbane. The states and territories with the highest proportion of Sikhs are Victoria (0.89%) and the Australian Capital Territory (0.54%), whereas those with the lowest are the Northern Territory (0.28%) and Tasmania (0.10%).

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics