Atheism, agnosticism, skepticism, freethought, secular humanism or general irreligion are increasing in Australia. Post-war Australia has become a highly secularised country. Religion does not play a major role in the lives of much of the population.
In the country's 2021 census, 38.9% of Australians (or 9,886,957 people) selected either "no religion" or specified their form of irreligion, almost nine percent higher (and 2,846,240 more people) than the . 7.2% did not state their religion, or gave an unclear response, meaning that over 46% of Australians did not state a religious affiliation in the 2021 census, a 6.4% increase from the last census. In preparation for the 2026 census, the Australian Government considered making several changes to be more inclusive, as over 40% of responses in the last census declared having no religion. The ABS ultimately decided to use the same question design as in previous censuses.
When asked of their religious affiliation in the 2016 census, 29.6% of Australians (or 6,933,708 people) selected "no religion." This was more than seven percent higher (and 2,240,546 more people), than in the . Additionally, in 2016, another 0.5% instead opted to specify their form of irreligion, writing it under "other," hence resulting in 30.1% of Australians (or just over 7,040,700 people) selecting "no religion." A further 9.6% either did not state a religion, or gave a response that was unclear, meaning that 39.7% of Australians did not expressly state a religious affiliation in the 2016 census.
In the 2011 census, 22.3% of Australians (or 4,796,787 people) described themselves as having "no religion." This was more than three percent higher (and 1,090,232 people more) than in the 2006 census and was the second largest category. Another 2.014 million (9.4%) were in the "not-stated or inadequately-defined" category: so more than 31% of Australians did not state a religious affiliation in the 2011 census.Religion in Australia#Demographics
In the , 18.7% of Australians (or 3,706,555 people) had described themselves as having "no religion." This was three percent higher than in the and was the largest growth in total number of any religious option in that census (800,557 people). A further 2.4 million (11.9%) did not state a religion (or inadequately described it). So just over 30% of Australians did not state a religious affiliation in the 2006 census.
In a 2004 worldwide study by Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, 25% of Australians stated they do not believe in any gods.Norris, Pippa and Ronald Inglehart. 2004. Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press
History The first systematic recording of the religious affiliation of non-aboriginal Australians took place in the 1901 census. Since the 1901 census, the percentage of the census population not aligned with a religion has grown from 0.4% to just over 30% of the population. The census question about religion has been clearly labelled as "optional" since 1933. In 1971 the census instructed, "If no religion, write none." This was followed by "a seven-fold increase" in the figures from previous years for those declaring lack of religious beliefs.
Melbourne hosted the 2010 and 2012 Global Atheist Conventions.
In 2010 The Australian Book of AtheismBonett, Warren (Editor). 2010. The Australian Book of Atheism. Melbourne, Vic: Scribe was published as "the first collection to explore atheism from an Australian viewpoint".The Australian Book of Atheism (Publisher's website) , . Retrieved on 10 December 2010. The book was prompted by the disparity between Australia's increasing secularism and the increasing political and educational influence and funding of religion in Australia and contains essays by 33 authors (including Leslie Cannold, Robyn Williams, Tim Minchin, Graham Oppy, Philip Nitschke, Ian Hunter, Lyn Allison, Russell Blackford and Ian Robinson) on atheism-related topics in areas including history, law, education, philosophy and neurobiology.
Irreligion in politics Section 116 of the Constitution of Australia established Freedom of religion in 1901.
Australians tend to be very suspicious of religion being intertwined with politics. Critic and commentator Robert Hughes stated "Any Australian political candidate who declared their God was on their side would be laughed off the podium as an idiot or a wowser (prude, intrusive bluenose)."Australian Christianity, Convict Creations. Retrieved on 14 April 2009. Conversely, Australia has had many openly atheist or agnostic political figures elected to high positions, including prime ministers Gough Whitlam (whose philosophical position has been called "post-Christian"Churches feel Whitlam's smiling wrath, The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved on 3 May 2009.) John Curtin, John Gorton, Bob Hawke and Julia Gillard. Governor-General Bill Hayden was voted as the Australian Humanist of the Year by the Council of Australian Humanist Societies (although he subsequently converted to Catholicism in 2018, many years after leaving office). Politicians Gareth Evans, Olive Zakharov and Lionel Murphy have also received this award.
A 2010 survey by The Sunday Age asked all 30 members of the First Rudd Ministry about their religious beliefs. Fifteen declined to comment, ten said they were "Christian" and three stated that they were atheists: health minister Nicola Roxon, defence personnel minister Greg Combet and financial services minister Chris Bowen. The remaining two, finance minister Lindsay Tanner and treasurer Wayne Swan, both described themselves as agnostic Christians, with Swan believing that "values, rather than religion, are important in public life". Tanner added, "I doubt whether it would make much difference to a political career for someone to describe themselves as atheist."Q: What do these MPs have in common? A: They are out and proud atheists, The Age. Retrieved on 21 March 2010.
According to a 2009 Nielsen survey, 84% of 1000 respondents agree that religion and politics should be separate.
The Fusion Party refers to itself as a secular humanist party. It supports the separation of church and state and removing religious prayers, rituals, and bias from government and public institutions and their documentation, and abolishing blasphemy laws.
The political party Reason Australia supports a secular Australia.
Polls, surveys and statistics
Although many Australians identify themselves as religious, the majority consider religion the least important aspect of their lives when compared with family, partners, work and career, leisure time and politics.Morris, Lindy. God's OK, it's just the religion bit we don't like (2008), Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved on 14 April 2009. This is reflected in Australia's church attendance rates, which are among the lowest in the world and in decline (reference from 2004).NCLS releases latest estimates of church attendance, National Church Life Survey, Media release, 28 February 2004 In explaining this phenomenon, writer and broadcaster Paul Collins said "Australians are quietly spiritual rather than explicitly religious" and the prominent historian Manning Clark defined Australian spirituality as "a shy hope in the heart ... understated, wary of enthusiasm, anti-authoritarian, optimistic, open to others, self-deprecating and ultimately characterized by a serious quiet reverence, a deliberate silence, an inarticulate awe and a serious distaste for glib wordiness."Collins, Paul. Australians quietly spiritual, not Godless, eurkastreet.com.au. Retrieved on 15 April 2009.
Donald Horne, one of Australia's well-known public intellectuals, believed rising prosperity in post-war Australia influenced the decline in church-going and general lack of interest in religion. "Churches no longer matter very much to most Australians. If there is a happy eternal life it's for everyone ... For many Australians the pleasures of this life are sufficiently satisfying that religion offers nothing of great appeal", said Horne in his landmark work The Lucky Country (1964).Buttrose, Larry. , The Australian. Retrieved on 11 September 2009.
The found that 38.9% of Australian-born Australians claim no religion. In 2011 adults aged 18–34 were more than twice as likely as those in 1976 to have no religion (29% compared with 12%). The highest proportion of people who had no religion were young adults. The ABS has revealed that in 2011, the number of males claiming no religion was higher than females, that women claiming no religion were more likely to have no children, and that marriages were mostly performed by civil celebrants. Tasmania had the highest rate of citizens reporting no religion, at 50% while the rate was lowest in New South Wales (33%).
Chinese Australians: Among immigrants, Chinese immigrants stand out as being significantly less religious compared to other groups, with a high proportion identifying as having no religion. People of English/Scottish/Irish Backgrounds form the largest group of those identifying with no religion. Census data Irreligious declarations of Australians by State or Territory according to the censuses from 2001 to 2021
State/Territory % 2021 % 2016 % 2011 % 2006 % 2001 Australian Capital Territory 44.2 36.2 28.9 23.4 19.6 New South Wales 33.2 25.1 17.9 14.3 11.7 Victoria 39.3 31.7 24.0 20.4 17.3 Tasmania 50.0 37.8 28.6 21.5 17.3 South Australia 45.8 35.4 28.1 24.2 20.6 Northern Territory 38.5 29.4 23.9 23.1 18.7 Western Australia 42.9 32.5 25.5 22.9 19.7 Queensland 41.2 29.2 22.1 18.6 14.8 Total 38.9 29.6 22.3 18.7 15.5
Marriage data Irreligious marriages in Australia accounted for 80.3% of marriages in 2019 and 2020 slightly more than in England and Wales in 2017 (78 per cent). The Australian figure is up from 41.3% of marriages in 1988 and just over 50% in 1999., www.abs.gov.au. Retrieved on 21 May 2015. Secular funerals have also risen in popularity: in 2014 the Sydney Morning Herald surveyed 104 funeral directors and 514 people over 50, finding that 6 in 10 funerals were conducted by civil celebrants.
Belief
A Roy Morgan survey of 4,840 Australians between October and December 2013 found that 52.6% of Australians were Christian, while 37.6% had no religion. Norman Morris, the company's communications director, noted that the change in religious affiliation could indicate a growth of atheism and agnosticism, or a move away from identification with organised Christianity by theistic believers. He identified possible causes for the change, including "morally conservative religious doctrines" contrasting with progressive attitudes on abortion, same-sex marriage, the use of condoms in the global fight against the HIV pandemic. He also noted the drop coincided with public media attention around alleged religious cover-ups of child sexual abuse in the Child Abuse Royal Commission.
A 2006 study by Monash University, the Australian Catholic University and the Christian Research Association found that 52 per cent of Australians born between 1976 and 1990 had no belief in a god.Fenton, Andrew. Faith no more – atheists in the city of churches, The Advertiser, 2009. Retrieved on 16 April 2009.
A 2008 global Gallup poll found nearly 70% of Australians stated religion as having no importance,Gallup WorldView – data accessed on 17 January 2009 much higher than their American counterparts and on par with similarly secular countries such as Japan, the Netherlands, Finland and France. Only a few Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark) and post-Soviet states (Estonia) are markedly less religious. A 2008 Christian Science Monitor survey of 17 countries reported that youth from Australia and the United Kingdom were the least likely to observe religious practice or see any "spiritual dimension" to life.Lampman, Jane. "Global survey: youths see spiritual dimension to life", The Christian Science Monitor, 2008. Retrieved on 14 April 2009.