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City of BoroondaraCommunity profile

In Balwyn in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (16.3% of all people), while 44.5% of people had no religion and 4.3% did not answer the question on religion.

Balwyn'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.

Balwyn'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
Balwyn - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Religion totalsNumber%City of Boroondara %Number%City of Boroondara %2016 to 2021
Christian total5,27738.841.56,03145.345.9-754
Non Christian total1,64312.18.51,34610.18.2+297
Non-classifiable religious belief430.30.5690.50.6-26
No Religion/secular beliefs6,05544.545.04,82636.337.0+1,229
Not stated5804.34.51,0407.88.3-460
Total Population13,598100.0100.013,312100.0100.0+286
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
Balwyn - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
ReligionNumber%City of Boroondara %Number%City of Boroondara %2016 to 2021
Western (Roman) Catholic2,22316.319.92,51818.921.6-295
Anglican1,0097.47.91,2539.49.7-244
Buddhism7605.63.36885.23.2+72
Hinduism5474.02.64003.02.4+147
Greek Orthodox5263.94.15444.14.0-18
Uniting Church3542.62.74693.53.4-115
Christian,nfd3012.21.90--1.7+301
Baptist2962.21.53252.41.5-29
Islam1861.41.11371.01.1+49
Presbyterian and Reformed1781.31.32511.91.6-73
Show all (27 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 Balwyn in 2021 compared to the City of Boroondara shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a similar proportion who stated they had no religion.

Overall, 50.9% of the population nominated a religion, and 44.5% said they had no religion, compared with 50.0% and 45.0% respectively for the City of Boroondara.

The largest single religion in Balwyn was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 16.3% of the population or 2,223 people as adherents.

The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Balwyn and the City of Boroondara were:

  • A larger percentage who nominated Buddhism (5.6% compared to 3.3%)
  • A larger percentage who nominated Hinduism (4.0% compared to 2.6%)
  • A smaller percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (16.3% compared to 19.9%)

Emerging groups

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

  • Christian,nfd (+301 persons)
  • Western (Roman) Catholic (-295 persons)
  • Anglican (-244 persons)
  • Hinduism (+147 persons)

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