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Gunnedah Shire CouncilCommunity profile
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In Gunnedah Shire in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (22.8% of all people), while 32.4% of people had no religion and 9.5% did not answer the question on religion.

Gunnedah Shire'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.

Gunnedah Shire'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
Gunnedah Shire - Total persons (Usual residence)20212001Change
Religion totalsNumber%Regional NSW %Number%Regional NSW %2001 to 2021
Christian total7,36257.051.110,04685.377.5-2,684
Non Christian total1070.83.0350.31.3+72
Non-classifiable religious belief390.30.51201.01.4-82
No Religion/secular beliefs4,18332.437.67736.611.3+3,409
Not stated1,2309.57.78046.88.5+425
Total Population12,921100.0100.011,780100.0100.0+1,141
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2001 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information
Religion - Ranked by size
Gunnedah Shire - Total persons (Usual residence)20212001Change
ReligionNumber%Regional NSW %Number%Regional NSW %2001 to 2021
Western (Roman) Catholic2,94122.821.03,26127.727.1-321
Anglican2,90622.517.04,57238.830.0-1,666
Presbyterian and Reformed4923.82.68287.05.1-336
Uniting Church4193.23.37526.47.6-334
Christian,nfd2121.62.2980.81.2+113
Baptist1231.01.21901.61.5-68
Pentecostal1080.80.8710.60.9+37
Buddhism490.40.8230.20.5+26
Salvation Army330.30.2850.70.6-52
Seventh Day Adventist310.20.4260.20.5+5
Show all (16 entries)
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2001 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 Gunnedah Shire in 2021 compared to Regional NSW shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.

Overall, 57.8% of the population nominated a religion, and 32.4% said they had no religion, compared with 54.1% and 37.6% respectively for Regional NSW.

The largest single religion in Gunnedah Shire was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 22.8% of the population or 2,941 people as adherents.

The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Gunnedah Shire and Regional NSW were:

  • A larger percentage who nominated Anglican (22.5% compared to 17.0%)
  • A larger percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (22.8% compared to 21.0%)
  • A larger percentage who nominated Presbyterian and Reformed (3.8% compared to 2.6%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Gunnedah Shire between 2001 and 2021 were for those who nominated:

  • Anglican (-1,666 persons)
  • Presbyterian and Reformed (-336 persons)
  • Uniting Church (-334 persons)
  • Western (Roman) Catholic (-321 persons)

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