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Wagga Wagga City CouncilCommunity profile

Wagga Wagga (Central)

Religion

In Wagga Wagga (Central) in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (26.8% of all people), while 31.9% of people had no religion and 6.7% did not answer the question on religion.

Wagga Wagga (Central)'s religion statistics provide an indicator of cultural identity and ethnicity when observed in conjunction with other key variables. Religion data reveal the major concentrations of religions as well as revealing the proportion of people with no religious affiliation. There are a number of reasons for different religious compositions across areas including the country of birth and ethnic background of the population, the age of the population (belief in religion is generally stronger, the older the population) and changes in values and belief systems.

Wagga Wagga (Central)'s religion statistics should be analysed in conjunction with other ethnicity statistics such as Country of Birth data and Language Spoken data to assist in identifying specific cultural and ethnic groups.

Please note: Due to changes in ABS rules around perturbation and additivity of data to protect the confidentiality of individuals, counts of individual religion groups and totals derived from them may differ slightly from those published by the ABS.

Q:

Derived from the Census question:

'What is the person's religion?'

Religion - Summary
Wagga Wagga (Central) - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Religion totalsNumber%Rural West %Number%Rural West %2016 to 2021
Christian total3,74952.264.14,37161.768.8-622
Non Christian total6148.60.33404.80.5+274
Non-classifiable religious belief470.70.2370.50.3+10
No Religion/secular beliefs2,28931.926.61,69924.019.3+590
Not stated4786.78.86409.011.1-162
Total Population7,177100.0100.07,087100.0100.0+90
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information
Religion - Ranked by size
Wagga Wagga (Central) - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
ReligionNumber%Rural West %Number%Rural West %2016 to 2021
Western (Roman) Catholic1,92526.829.22,12429.928.3-199
Anglican98113.717.11,16616.419.3-185
Presbyterian and Reformed2663.74.43464.96.2-80
Uniting Church1992.85.73004.26.3-101
Hinduism1632.3--1251.80.1+38
Other Non-Christian Religions1562.2--0----+156
Islam1341.9--1081.5--+26
Christian,nfd1201.72.21111.62.6+9
Buddhism921.30.2580.8--+34
Sikhism520.70.1120.2--+40
Show all (17 entries)
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information

Excludes religions with fewer than 10 adherents.

Dominant groups

Analysis of the religious affiliation of the population of Wagga Wagga (Central) in 2021 compared to Rural West shows that there was a lower proportion of people who professed a religion and a higher proportion who stated they had no religion.

Overall, 60.8% of the population nominated a religion, and 31.9% said they had no religion, compared with 64.3% and 26.6% respectively for Rural West.

The largest single religion in Wagga Wagga (Central) was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 26.8% of the population or 1,925 people as adherents.

The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Wagga Wagga (Central) and Rural West were:

  • A larger percentage who nominated Hinduism (2.3% compared to 0.0%)
  • A smaller percentage who nominated Anglican (13.7% compared to 17.1%)
  • A smaller percentage who nominated Uniting Church (2.8% compared to 5.7%)
  • A smaller percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (26.8% compared to 29.2%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Wagga Wagga (Central) between 2016 and 2021 were for those who nominated:

  • Western (Roman) Catholic (-199 persons)
  • Anglican (-185 persons)
  • Other Non-Christian Religions (+156 persons)
  • Uniting Church (-101 persons)

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