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Bass Coast ShireCommunity profile

Wonthaggi District

Religion

In the Wonthaggi District in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (18.9% of all people), while 47.2% of people had no religion and 7.2% did not answer the question on religion.

The Wonthaggi District'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.

The Wonthaggi District'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
Wonthaggi District - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Religion totalsNumber%Bass Coast Shire %Number%Bass Coast Shire %2016 to 2021
Christian total3,83142.139.24,06050.248.3-230
Non Christian total2672.92.11742.22.0+92
Non-classifiable religious belief460.50.7490.60.7-4
No Religion/secular beliefs4,30047.249.82,95936.639.3+1,341
Not stated6597.28.284710.59.7-188
Total Population9,103100.0100.08,091100.0100.0+1,012
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
Wonthaggi District - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
ReligionNumber%Bass Coast Shire %Number%Bass Coast Shire %2016 to 2021
Western (Roman) Catholic1,72018.916.41,73621.419.0-16
Anglican1,02911.311.21,21414.915.2-185
Uniting Church2853.13.53254.04.5-41
Baptist1872.11.72052.52.0-18
Presbyterian and Reformed1761.91.82262.82.7-51
Christian,nfd1641.81.91401.72.0+23
Buddhism1121.21.0801.01.0+31
Pentecostal700.80.5620.80.5+8
Hinduism660.70.4460.60.3+20
Jehova's Witnesses480.50.3460.60.3+2
Show all (19 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 the Wonthaggi District in 2021 compared to Bass Coast Shire shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.

Overall, 45.0% of the population nominated a religion, and 47.2% said they had no religion, compared with 41.3% and 49.8% respectively for Bass Coast Shire.

The largest single religion in the Wonthaggi District was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 18.9% of the population or 1,720 people as adherents.

The major difference between the religious affiliation for the population of the Wonthaggi District and Bass Coast Shire was:

  • A larger percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (18.9% compared to 16.4%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in the Wonthaggi District between 2016 and 2021 were for those who nominated:

  • Anglican (-185 persons)
  • Presbyterian and Reformed (-51 persons)

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