Many of the "religions" here are not single organizations but are classifications or categories of related faith groups. A wider variety of responses (including dozens of distinct Christian denominations) have been summarized in this table, based on the "major religions" defined in the "Major Religions of the World" list. (The one exception to this is that Australian Aboriginal traditional religion has been left as is, rather than being grouped with "Animism" into the "primal-indigenous" category. It is quite possible that the 727 people who listed their religion as "Animism" are, in fact, adherents of Australian aboriginal religion.) Because the Christianity category includes so many different groups, the "Top 15 Christian Denominations" are provided in a separate table. [The "Levels of Classification of Faith Groups" provides further information on the definition of "religion" and "denominational family" as used here.]
Interestingly enough, of the 22 "major religions of the world" listed by Adherents.com's summary page, all but three (Juche, Jainism and Yoruba religion) are found in Australia, according to this census. Of the 12 "classical world religions," all but Jainism are present in Australia. Nevertheless, there are small organized Jain groups in Australia, but they are not listed in the census data we obtained. Perhaps they are grouped among Hindus.
| Rank | Religion | Adherents | % of population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christianity | 12,575,675 | 70.28% | Includes all Christians, as classified by Australian census bureau for statistical purposes using the self-identification standard: Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants, Eastern/Orthodox, Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Pentecostal, Jehovah's Witnesses, Churches of Christ, Seventh-day Adventists, Brethren, Apostolic, etc., as well as self-identified Christians and Protestants who didn't further define denominational affiliation. |
| 2 | Nonreligious/Agnostic/etc. | 2,948,891 | 16.48 | No Religion, not further defined (2,927,139); Agnosticism (8801); Atheism (7496); Humanism (4075); Rationalism (1380). About 1 in ever 2,000 Australians described themselves as an atheist in this census. |
| - | Unknown | 1,749,363 | 9.78 | Not stated (1,550,585); Overseas visitor (139,594); Religious belief not further defined (35,790); Inadequately Described (18,374); Religions Groups not elewhere classified (3,063); Theism not elsewhere classified (1,957) |
| 3 | Islam | 202,925 | 1.12 | includes "Islam" (200,885) and "Druse" (2,040) |
| 4 | Buddhism | 199,812 | 1.12 | |
| 5 | Judaism | 79,805 | 0.45 | |
| 6 | Hinduism | 67,278 | 0.38 | |
| 7 | Sikhism | 12,017 | 0.07 | |
| 8 | Baha'i | 8,947 | 0.05 | |
| 9 | Neo-Paganism/Paganism | 7,615 | 0.05 | Paganism (4,353); Wicca/Witchcraft (1,849); Satanism (2,091) |
| 10 | Spiritualism | 8,140 | 0.05 | |
| 11 | Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions | 7,356 | 0.04 | |
| 12 | Chinese Traditional Religion | 3,815 | 0.02 | Taoism (2,981); Ancestor Veneration (653); Confucianism (578); Chinese Religions not further defined (257) |
| 13 | Ratana | 2,348 | 0.01 | |
| 14 | Nature Religions | 1,734 | 0.01 | Nature Religions not elsewhere classified (1617); Nature Religions not further defined (117); This does not include a few religions which are often strongly nature-oriented, but are specifically dilineated separately: Wicca/Witchcraft, Paganism, Animism, Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religion. |
| 15 | Zoroastrianism | 1,522 | 0.01 | |
| 16 | Scientology | 1,488 | 0.01 | |
| 17 | Theosophy | 1,423 | 0.01 | |
| 18 | Rastafarianism | 1,023 | 0.01 | |
| 19 | Caodaism | 964 | 0.01 | |
| 20 | Pantheism | 835 | - | |
| 21 | Eckankar | 829 | - | |
| 22 | Animism | 727 | - | Animism is a label frequently applied incorrectly to all primal-indigenous religions. These respondents may or may not, in fact, be adherents of Australian aboriginal religion. |
| 23 | Unitarian | 719 | - | |
| 24 | Sukyo Mahikari | 668 | - | |
| 25 | Religious Science | 634 | - | |
| 26 | Shinto | 541 | - | Shinto (524); Japanese Religions not further defined (17) |
| 27 | New Churches (Swedenborgian) | 504 | - | |
| 28 | Faith Churches | 52 | - | |
| 29 | Tenrikyo | 46 | - |
| Denominational Family | Adherents | % of population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catholic | 4,799,543 | 26.82% | including all Latin-rite Catholic, Maronite, Melikite, Liberal Catholic |
| Anglican | 3,903,324 | 21.82 | |
| Uniting Church in Australia | 1,334,917 | 7.46 | |
| Presbyterian/Reformed | 675,534 | 3.78 | Presbyterian, Reformed, Free Reformed |
| Orthodox/Eastern Christian | 528,345 | 2.95 | Greek Orthodox, Macedonian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Orthodox not further defined, Russian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Ancient Church of the East, Antiochian Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, Orthodox not elsewhere classified, Albanian Orthodox, Syrian (Jacobite) Church; Oriental Christian not further defined, Oriental Christian not elsewhere classified |
| Baptist | 295,178 | 1.65 | includes all Baptist religious bodies and non-affiliated Baptists |
| Lutheran | 249,989 | 1.40 | |
| Pentecostal | 144,208 | 0.81 | Pentecostal not further defined, Assemblies of God, Pentecostal not elsewhere classified, United Pentecostal |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | 83,414 | 0.47 | Includes all self-identified JWs, including those not officially counted as active "publishers" by the organization. |
| Churches of Christ | 74,300 | 0.42 | Churches of Christ (Conference); Churches of Christ not further defined |
| Salvation Army | 74,145 | 0.41 | |
| Seventh-day Adventist | 52,656 | 0.29 | |
| Latter Day Saints | 45,113 | 0.25 | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (42,159); Reorganised Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (1550); Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints not further defined (1404) |
| Brethren | 22,063 | 0.12 | |
| Apostolic | 13,680 | 0.08 | Apostolic Church (so described); Apostolic Church of Queensland; Apostolic Church (Australia); New Apostolic Church |
Adherents.com wishes to thank Rev. Robert Humphreys for some feedback and corrections he provided to this web page. Rev. Humphreys is the co-author, along with Rev. Rowland Ward, of Religious Bodies in Australia (3rd edition), 1995 ($20Aust), the most comprehensive guide to religious bodies in Australia.
This document is copyright © 2000 by Adherents.com. Created 16 December 1999. Last modified 23 March 2000.
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