In 2003, 68.1% of the population described themselves as Christian. As of 2020, that was down to 44.0%. Meanwhile the proportion of Australians who describe themselves as having no religion has risen from 26.0% in 2003 to 45.5% in 2020.

When asked of their religious affiliation in the 2016 census, 29.6% of Australians (or 6,933,708 people) selected “no religion.” This is more than seven percent higher (and 2,240,546 more people), than in the 2011 census.

While Australia has a strong tradition of secular government, religious organisations have played a significant role in public life. The Protestant and Catholic churches played an integral role in the development of education, health and welfare services.

Australia’s major religion is Christianity with the major denominations including Catholic, Anglican, Uniting Church, Presbyterian and Reformed, Eastern Orthodox, Baptist and Lutheran. The two major denominations, Anglican and Catholic, account for 36% of the Australian population.

Reflecting the historical influence of European migration to Australia, Christianity was the most common religion reported in 2016 (52%). Islam (2.6%) and Buddhism (2.4%) were the next most common religions reported. Nearly a third of Australians reported in the Census that they had no religion in 2016 (30%).

According to sociologists Ariela Keysar and Juhem Navarro-Rivera’s review of numerous global studies on atheism, there are 450 to 500 million positive atheists and agnostics worldwide (7% of the world’s population), with China having the most atheists in the world (200 million convinced atheists).

It may come as a surprise to you, but the fastest growing religion in the country according to the Australia Bureau of Statistics is Sikhism.

Countries/Districts

The presence of Christianity in Australia began with the foundation of a British colony at New South Wales in 1788. Post-war immigration has grown the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and there are large and growing Pentecostal groups, such as Sydney’s Hillsong Church.

Hinduism is one of the fastest growing religion in absolute numbers in every state and territory of Australia….Hindus by state or territory.

Christianity is once again the dominant religion in Australia, with 12 million people, and 86 per cent of religious Australians, identifying as Christians.

Christianity remains the largest religion in Australia, though declining religiosity and diversifying immigration intakes of recent decades have seen the percentage of the population identifying as Christian in the national census decline from 96.1% at the time of the Federation of Australia in the 1901 census, to 52.1 …

Secularism in Australia means no state church. It means giving people a choice between belief and un-belief. It means religious leaders may lobby for their point of view but so too may leaders of atheist, humanist and rationalist organisations.

This version of secularism is sometimes described as a strict separation of church and state, or in France as laïcité. This form of secularism does not necessarily mean a decrease in religious belief by the population. Instead, religion is simply removed to the private sphere. The state can be secular while its population is religious.

Nearly a third of Australians reported in the Census that they had no religion in 2016 (30%). The religious makeup of Australia has shifted slowly over the past 50 years. In 1966, Christianity was the main religion (88%).

In the 2011 Census, 68.3% of the population had a religion and 61.1% of Australians identified as Christian. This rules out Taylor’s second form of secularism – at least for now. Australia is a secular country.