News
Australian census reveals more people with "No religion"
13 July 2007
(Originally posted on our
myspace blog, 27 June 2007)
Encouraging news from the 2006 Austalian Census
Early results of the 2006 Census were released [recently], and include some encouraging statistics regarding religious affiliation. Since the previous census in 2001 the two largest religious groups - Catholics and Anglicans - experienced decreases in percentage terms, while the "No religion" category increased significantly.
(See www.abs.gov.au)
Catholics increased in numbers by around 120,000 but fell as a proportion of total population from 26.6% to 25.8% (down 0.8%).
Anglicans fell in both total numbers and percentage of population, down 2% from 20.7% to 18.7%.
"No religion" increased by an impressive 800,000 individuals, up by more than 3% from 15.5% to 18.7%.
Results for Port Macquarie - Hastings
In the Port Macquarie - Hastings area the results are as follows (note that percentages are our own calculations):
Total population of the local government area increased by 5513 from 62,916 to 68,429. This represents a population increase of 8.8% over 5 years.
Catholics: Up 1255 individuals from 15,309 to 16,564. Down 0.1% from 24.3% to 24.2%
Anglicans: Up 513 individuals from 20,876 to 21,389. Down 1.9% from 33.2% to 31.3%
Total Christians: Up 1869 from 49,347 to 51,216. Down 3.6% from 78.4% to 74.8%
"No religion": Up 2649 from 7,248 to 9,897. Up 3.0% from 11.5% to 14.5%
Although not quite as impressive as national figures, the "No religion" percentage result for Port Macquarie - Hastings is similar to the NSW state figure. Around 1 in 7 Hastings residents now profess no religion.
It is interesting (though not entirely surprising) to note that there appears to be a direct correlation between age and religiosity. For example, in the local area the percentage of residents in the "No religion" category is around 20% for 15-24 year-olds, 14% for 35-44s and 10% for 55-64s. One interpretation of this could be that religion is slowly "dying out" as the population ages, and that theism will inevitably continue to decline as fewer young people accept religion. Another interpretation could be that people tend to get "more religious" as we age, however I do not think this is likely and it does not appear to be supported by the data. For example, in the 1996 census total Christians in the 55-64 age group (in the local area) were 5224 out of a total 6199 individuals (84.3%) while ten years later the 65-74 age group reported 6567 Christians out of a total 7806 (84.1%) - almost identical in percentage terms, and in fact a small decline.
Edit:
Looking at the figures another way... The total Christian population of the Hastings has increased 15.4% in the last 10 years (up 6,816 from 44,400 in 1996 to 51,216 in 2006). The churches and Christian groups may be happier with those numbers. However, the population in the "No religion" category has grown from 6,877 in 1996 to 9,897 in 2006 - up 3,020 or 43.9%
If those percentage growth rates continued for the next ten years, in 2016 there would be 59,103 Christians living in the Hastings compared with 14,242 with no religion - a change in ratio of roughly 5:1 today to around 4:1 in 2016. If the trend away from religion is accelerating - or at least acelerates over the next ten years - it's feasible that the ratio could get as low as 3:1