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Hilltops Council areaCommunity profile

Hilltops Council area

Religion

In Hilltops Council area in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (29.8% of all people), while 25.6% of people had no religion and 8.7% did not answer the question on religion.

Hilltops Council area'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.

Hilltops Council area'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
Hilltops Council area - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Religion totalsNumber%Regional NSW %Number%Regional NSW %2016 to 2021
Christian total11,87561.751.113,55673.361.5-1,681
Non Christian total7133.73.04312.32.3+282
Non-classifiable religious belief680.40.5660.40.6+2
No Religion/secular beliefs4,93325.637.62,93415.926.3+1,999
Not stated1,6718.77.71,5108.29.3+161
Total Population19,260100.0100.018,497100.0100.0+763
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
Hilltops Council area - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
ReligionNumber%Regional NSW %Number%Regional NSW %2016 to 2021
Western (Roman) Catholic5,74429.821.06,36834.423.8-624
Anglican4,00420.817.04,79525.921.9-791
Uniting Church7043.73.38464.64.5-142
Islam5272.70.72761.50.5+251
Presbyterian and Reformed4882.52.66223.43.5-134
Christian,nfd2971.52.22751.52.2+22
Baptist1350.71.21650.91.3-30
Brethren1180.60.11090.60.1+9
Buddhism660.30.8720.40.8-6
Salvation Army640.30.2670.40.3-3
Show all (21 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 Hilltops Council area 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, 65.4% of the population nominated a religion, and 25.6% said they had no religion, compared with 54.1% and 37.6% respectively for Regional NSW.

The largest single religion in Hilltops Council area was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 29.8% of the population or 5,744 people as adherents.

The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Hilltops Council area and Regional NSW were:

  • A larger percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (29.8% compared to 21.0%)
  • A larger percentage who nominated Anglican (20.8% compared to 17.0%)
  • A larger percentage who nominated Islam (2.7% compared to 0.7%)

Emerging groups

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

  • Anglican (-791 persons)
  • Western (Roman) Catholic (-624 persons)
  • Islam (+251 persons)
  • Uniting Church (-142 persons)

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