Australia Religion

Australia Religion

Australia has no state religion. In the 2006 census, 64% of Australians listed themselves as Christian, including 26% as Roman Catholic and 19% as Anglican. About 19% of the population cited "No religion" (which includes humanism, atheism, agnosticism and rationalism), which was the fastest-growing group from 2001 to 2006, and a further 12% did not answer (the question is optional) or did not give a response adequate for interpretation. The largest non-Christian religion in Australia is Buddhism (2.1%), followed by Islam (1.7%), Hinduism (0.8%) and Judaism (0.5%). Overall, fewer than 6% of Australians identify with non-Christian religions. Weekly attendance at church services in 2004 was about 1.5 million: about 7.5% of the population. 

According to an international survey conducted by Germany's Bertelsmann Foundation, "Australia is one of the least religious nations in the western world, coming in 17th out of 21 surveyed" and that "Nearly three out of four Australians say they are either not at all religious or that religion does not play a central role in their lives.".  A survey of 1,718 Australians by the Christian Research Association at the end of 2009 suggested that the numbers of people attending religious services in Australia has dropped from 23 per cent in 1993 to 16 per cent in 2009, and while 60 per cent of 15-29-year-old respondents in 1993 identified with Christian denominations, 33 per cent did in 2009.