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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn Cheltenham in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (21.5% of all people), while 42.0% of people had no religion and 4.9% did not answer the question on religion.
Cheltenham'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.
Cheltenham'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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheltenham - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | ||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Oakleigh South % | Number | % | Oakleigh South % | 2001 to 2021 |
| Christian total | 8,869 | 44.2 | 53.5 | 11,242 | 68.3 | 73.6 | -2,373 |
| Non Christian total | 1,664 | 8.3 | 17.0 | 947 | 5.8 | 11.0 | +717 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 119 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 295 | 1.8 | 0.8 | -176 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 8,411 | 42.0 | 24.5 | 2,611 | 15.9 | 8.9 | +5,800 |
| Not stated | 987 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 1,372 | 8.3 | 5.7 | -385 |
| Total Population | 20,050 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 16,467 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +3,583 |
| Religion - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheltenham - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | ||||
| Religion | Number | % | Oakleigh South % | Number | % | Oakleigh South % | 2001 to 2021 |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 4,310 | 21.5 | 24.8 | 4,528 | 27.5 | 34.7 | -218 |
| Anglican | 1,502 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 2,893 | 17.6 | 8.3 | -1,391 |
| Greek Orthodox | 1,310 | 6.5 | 17.6 | 1,154 | 7.0 | 20.3 | +156 |
| Hinduism | 543 | 2.7 | 6.6 | 197 | 1.2 | 1.2 | +346 |
| Uniting Church | 379 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 922 | 5.6 | 2.6 | -543 |
| Christian,nfd | 348 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 155 | 0.9 | 1.0 | +193 |
| Buddhism | 344 | 1.7 | 4.4 | 160 | 1.0 | 5.8 | +184 |
| Judaism | 324 | 1.6 | 3.0 | 115 | 0.7 | 1.7 | +209 |
| Islam | 289 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 417 | 2.5 | 1.8 | -128 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 270 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 704 | 4.3 | 1.4 | -434 |
Show all (26 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the religious affiliation of the population of Cheltenham in 2021 compared to Oakleigh South shows that there was a lower proportion of people who professed a religion and a higher proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 52.5% of the population nominated a religion, and 42.0% said they had no religion, compared with 70.4% and 24.5% respectively for Oakleigh South.
The largest single religion in Cheltenham was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 21.5% of the population or 4,310 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Cheltenham and Oakleigh South were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Anglican (7.5% compared to 3.5%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Greek Orthodox (6.5% compared to 17.6%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Hinduism (2.7% compared to 6.6%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (21.5% compared to 24.8%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Cheltenham between 2001 and 2021 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-1,391 persons)
- Uniting Church (-543 persons)
- Presbyterian and Reformed (-434 persons)
- Hinduism (+346 persons)
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