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G21 RegionCommunity profile

In G21 Region in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (21.7% of all people), while 45.6% of people had no religion and 6.5% did not answer the question on religion.

G21 Region'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.

G21 Region'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
G21 Region - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Religion totalsNumber%Regional VIC %Number%Regional VIC %2016 to 2021
Christian total155,34543.243.3161,50652.453.1-6,161
Non Christian total14,5704.13.39,0142.92.4+5,556
Non-classifiable religious belief2,2040.60.62,1430.70.6+61
No Religion/secular beliefs164,06845.645.2108,19935.134.0+55,869
Not stated23,2786.57.727,4688.99.8-4,190
Total Population359,465100.0100.0308,330100.0100.0+51,135
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
G21 Region - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
ReligionNumber%Regional VIC %Number%Regional VIC %2016 to 2021
Western (Roman) Catholic78,00421.719.775,99924.622.7+2,005
Anglican29,2028.19.834,00411.013.3-4,802
Uniting Church13,8273.84.716,8955.56.5-3,068
Christian,nfd8,3342.32.17,4132.42.1+921
Presbyterian and Reformed7,0742.02.29,2173.03.3-2,143
Baptist5,8041.61.25,4821.81.3+322
Islam4,2241.20.92,7150.90.7+1,509
Hinduism3,8091.10.71,8050.60.4+2,004
Buddhism3,3210.90.92,7700.90.8+551
Greek Orthodox2,6150.70.52,2350.70.5+380
Show all (39 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 G21 Region in 2021 compared to Regional VIC shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a similar proportion who stated they had no religion.

Overall, 47.3% of the population nominated a religion, and 45.6% said they had no religion, compared with 46.5% and 45.2% respectively for Regional VIC.

The largest single religion in G21 Region was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 21.7% of the population or 78,004 people as adherents.

The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of G21 Region and Regional VIC were:

  • A larger percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (21.7% compared to 19.7%)
  • A smaller percentage who nominated Anglican (8.1% compared to 9.8%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in G21 Region between 2016 and 2021 were for those who nominated:

  • Anglican (-4,802 persons)
  • Uniting Church (-3,068 persons)
  • Presbyterian and Reformed (-2,143 persons)
  • Western (Roman) Catholic (+2,005 persons)

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