Religion in Australia is diverse. In the 2021 national census, 43.9% of Australians identified with Christianity and 38.9% declared "no religion".
Australia has no official religion. Section 116 of the Constitution of Australia states: "The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth."
Section 116 does not preclude the states of Australia from making such laws.
The Christian festivals of Easter and Christmas are public holidays.
History The Aboriginal peoples of Australia traditionally followed a set of beliefs known as The Dreaming; some of the earliest evidence for religious practices among humans has been found in the archaeological record of their ancestors. Torres Strait Islander religion bore similarities to broader Melanesian spirituality.
Christianity came to Australia in 1788 with British colonial settlement. Of the convicts and free settlers, most were members of the established Church of England with lesser numbers of Nonconformist Protestants, Catholics and other faiths. The first religious census in 1828 divided the early colony into four groups: Protestants, Catholics, Jews and Pagans.
Other smaller groups also arrived and established their churches. Jews started arriving in the early 19th century. The Australian gold rushes brought in workers from China and the Pacific islands, as well as specialised workers from British India, such as the mainly Muslim "Afghan Cameleers".
Indigenous Australian religion
Dreaming (spirituality) has been practised for tens of thousands of years. It is at once a collection of stories of an ancient view of creation and present day spirituality. It places significant emphasis on belonging to the land. It shaped and continues to shape Aboriginal law and customs; and Aboriginal art, story and dance continue to draw on these spiritual traditions.
There is evidence of contact between indigenous Australians with colonisers, fishermen, and survivors of numerous shipwrecks from peoples of various non-Indigenous cultures and faiths prior to British colonisation. Indigenous Australians of (Arnhem Land) (in Northern Australia) retain stories, songs and paintings of trade and cultural interaction with sea-faring peoples from the north, generally regarded as being from the east Indonesian archipelago. There is some evidence of Islamic terms and concepts entering northern Aboriginal cultures via these interactions.Article about Islam in Australia from Connecticut College (See: Macassan contact with Australia.)
Christianity
While the Church of England originally held a position of privilege in early colonial Australia, a legal framework guaranteeing religious equality evolved within a few decades, especially when the Church of England was disestablished in the colony of New South Wales by the Church Act 1836. Drafted by the reformist attorney-general John Plunkett, the act established legal equality for Anglicans, Catholics and Presbyterians, and was later extended to Methodists. British Nonconformist Methodist, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Baptists set up their own churches in the 19th century, as did Lutherans from Germany. Robert Humphreys, and Rowland S. Ward, Religious bodies in Australia: a comprehensive guide (New Melbourne Press, 1995).
Large numbers of Irish Catholics were transported to Australia between the late 18th and 19th centuries. Sectarian tensions in Australia, largely fuelled by historical grievances between Catholics and other Christians, continued into the 20th century.On Anglican history see B. Kaye, ed., Anglicanism in Australia: a History (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002); D. Hilliard, Godliness and Good Order: A History of the Anglican Church in South Australia (Adelaide: Wakefield Press, 1986); S. Judd and K. J. Cable, Sydney Anglicans: A History of the Diocese (Sydney: Anglican Information Office, 1987); B. Porter, ed., Melbourne Anglicans: The Diocese of Melbourne 1847–1978 (Melbourne: Mitre Books, 1997); T. Frame, A Church for the Nation: a History of the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn (Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 2000). The gold rush of the 1850s led to significantly increased immigration and diversity of religious traditions, such as Irish Catholicism, Scottish Presbyterianism and English Anglicanism among other religious traditions.
Australian Aboriginal peoples suffered a decline during this period as they were dispossessed of their lands; and diseases spread among their populations. Christian churches and religious individuals organised missions during this period, intended to "protect" and "civilise" Aboriginal communities and spread Christianity. Protection policies reached as far as the islands of the Torres Strait with the creation of "reserves". The overall consequences of this activity contributed to the decline of indigenous languages and beliefs, the extent to which are still being determined and recorded.
By 1901, apart from the indigenous population and descendants of gold rush migrants, Australian society was predominantly Anglo-Celtic, with 40% of the population being Anglican, 23% Catholic, 34% other Christian and about 1% professing non-Christian religions. From the 1950s onwards, the country experienced a rapid growth in the number of Catholics due to the influx of many post-war immigrants from continental Europe and Malta. Freedom of religion was enshrined in Section 116 of the Constitution of Australia of 1901.
Other religions
There were at least 15 Jews in the First Fleet, 14 convicts and one "free" child.
The Tolpuddle Martyrs were sentenced to penal transportation to Australia because friendly societies had strong elements of what are now considered to be the predominant role of trade unions.
As noted above, the Australian gold rushes brought in workers from China and the Pacific islands, as well as specialised workers from British India such as, from the 1860s onwards, the mainly Muslim "Afghan Cameleers". From the 1870s Malay divers were recruited (with most subsequently repatriated). Before 1901, some Muslim sailors and prisoners came to Australia on convict ships.
In 1901, the government passed an act limiting immigration to those of European descent in what came to be known as the White Australia Policy. By effectively limiting the immigration of practitioners of different faiths, this policy ensured that Christianity remained the religion of the overwhelming majority of Australians for the foreseeable future and, indeed, to the present day. The first census in 1911 showed 96% identified themselves as Christian. Sectarian tensions continued into the 1960s; e.g. job vacancy advertisements sometimes stated "Protestant preferred" or that "Catholics need not apply". Nevertheless, Australia elected its first Catholic prime minister, James Scullin, in 1929, and in 1930 Sir Isaac Isaacs, an Australian-born Jew, was appointed Governor-General.
Demographics
A question on religion has been asked in every census taken in Australia, with the voluntary nature of this question having been specifically stated since 1933. In 1971, the instruction "if no religion, write none" was introduced. This saw a sevenfold increase from the previous census year in the percentage of Australians stating they had no religion. Since 1971, this percentage has progressively increased to 38.9% in 2021.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2006 Census Dictionary statement on religious affiliation states the purpose for gathering such information:
Data on religious affiliation are used for such purposes as planning educational facilities, aged persons' care and other social services provided by religion-based organisations; the location of church buildings; the assigning of chaplains to hospitals, prisons, armed services and universities; the allocation of time on public radio and other media; and sociological research.
The census question about religion is optional, and asks "What is the person's religion?", giving respondents a choice of nine religions, "Other" and "No religion". At the 2016 census 9.6% of people declined to answer, or they did not give a response adequate for interpretation. This figure dropped to 7.2% in 2021.
The 2021 Australian census data showed that 43.9% of Australians classify themselves Christian, 8.2% less in real terms than five years prior, The second-largest classification was the 38.9% who identified as "no religion". As in many Western countries, the level of active participation in church worship is much lower than this. According to the National Church Life Survey conducted by NCLS Research in 2018, one in five Australians can be described as a “frequent attendee”, i.e. attending religious services at least once a month. This includes 13% who report attending religious services at least once a week and 8% who attend at least once a month. Almost half (48%) of Australians report never attending religious services.
The fastest growing religious classifications over the fifteen years between 2006 and 2021 were: No religion – up from 18.7% to 38.9% Islam – up from 1.7% to 3.2% Hinduism – up from 0.7% to 2.7% Sikhism – up from 0.1% to 0.8% Buddhism - from 2.1% to 2.4% Meanwhile, all Christian denominations combined decreased from 63.9% to 43.9%.
Census data +Religious declarations of Australians according to the censuses of 1986 to 20212016 Census of Population and General Community (Sheet G14) Australian Bureau of Statistics Affiliation 1986 1996 2006 2011 2016 2021 Count ('000) % Count ('000) % Count ('000) % Count ('000) % Count ('000) % Count ('000) % 10 Anglican 3,723.4 23.9 3,903.3 22.0 3,718.3 18.7 3,680.0 17.1 3,101.2 13.3 2,496.3 9.8 10 Baptist 196.8 1.3 295.2 1.7 316.7 1.6 352.5 1.6 345.1 1.5 347.3 1.4 10 Catholic Catholic 4,064.4 26.1 4,799.0 27.0 5,126.9 25.8 5,439.2 25.3 5,291.8 22.6 5,075.9 20.0 10 Churches of Christ 88.5 0.6 75.0 0.4 54.8 0.3 49.7 0.2 39.6 0.2 35.9 0.1 10 Jehovah's Witnesses 66.5 0.4 83.4 0.5 80.9 0.4 85.6 0.4 82.5 0.4 84.4 0.3 10 Latter Day Saints 35.5 0.2 45.2 0.3 53.1 0.3 59.8 0.3 61.6 0.3 57.9 0.2 10 Lutheran 208.3 1.3 250.0 1.4 251.1 1.3 251.9 1.2 174 0.7 145.9 0.6 10 Eastern Orthodox 427.4 2.5 497.3 2.5 544.3 2.6 563.1 2.6 582.8 2.6 535.5 2.1 10 Pentecostal 107.0 0.7 174.6 1.0 219.6 1.1 238.0 1.1 260.6 1.1 259.8 1.1 10 Presbyterian & Reformed 560.0 3.6 675.5 3.8 596.7 3.0 599.5 2.8 526.7 2.3 414.9 1.6 10 Salvation Army 77.8 0.5 74.1 0.4 64.2 0.3 60.2 0.3 48.9 0.2 35.4 0.1 10 Seventh-day Adventist 48.0 0.3 52.7 0.3 55.3 0.3 63.0 0.3 62.9 0.3 63.7 0.3 10 Uniting Church 1,182.3 7.6 1,334.9 7.5 1,135.4 5.7 1,065.8 5.0 870.2 3.7 673.3 2.7 12 Other Christian 596.0 3.8 322.7 1.8 468.6 2.4 642.4 3.0 833.5 3.6 926.8 3.7 15 Christian total 11,381.9 73.0 12,582.9 70.9 12,685.9 63.9 13,150.6 61.1 12,201.6 52.1 11,148.8 43.9 20 Buddhism 80.4 0.5 199.8 1.1 418.8 2.1 529.0 2.5 563.7 2.4 615.8 2.4 20 Hinduism 21.5 0.1 67.3 0.4 148.1 0.7 275.5 1.3 440.3 1.9 684.0 2.7 20 Sikhism 12.0 <0.1 26.4 0.1 72.3 0.3 125.9 0.5 210.4 0.8 20 Islam 109.5 0.7 200.9 1.1 340.4 1.7 476.3 2.2 604.2 2.6 813.4 3.2 20 Judaism 69.1 0.4 79.8 0.4 88.8 0.4 97.3 0.5 91 0.4 100.0 0.4 20 Other non-Christian 35.7 0.2 56.6 0.3 82.6 0.4 95.9 0.4 95.7 0.4 115.0 0.5 25 Non-Christian total 316.2 2.0 616.4 3.5 1,105.1 5.6 1,546.3 7.2 1,920.8 8.2 2,538.6 10.0 30 No religion1 1,977.5 12.7 2,948.9 16.6 3,706.5 18.7 4,796.8 22.3 7,040.7 30.1 9,887.0 38.9 40 Not stated2 1,926.6 12.3 1,604.8 9.0 2,357.8 11.9 2,014.0 9.4 2,345.5 10 1,751.4 7.3Totals3 15,602.1 100.0 17,753.0 100.0 19,855.3 100.0 21,507.7 100.0 23,401.4 100.0 25,422.8 100.0