Rowville
Religion
In Rowville in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (24.2% of all people), while 36.0% of people had no religion and 3.5% did not answer the question on religion.
Rowville'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.
Rowville'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.
Derived from the Census question:
'What is the person's religion?'
Total population
| Religion - Summary | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rowville - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Australia % | Number | % | Australia % | 2016 to 2021 | |
 Christian total | 16,044 | 47.8 | 43.9 | 35500 | 18,146 | 54.0 | 52.1 | -2,102 |
| Non Christian total | 4,132 | 12.3 | 10.0 | 35501 | 3,537 | 10.5 | 8.2 | +594 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 144 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 35502 | 166 | 0.5 | 0.6 | -22 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 12,075 | 36.0 | 38.7 | 35503 | 9,771 | 29.1 | 29.9 | +2,304 |
| Not stated | 1,174 | 3.5 | 6.9 | 35504 | 2,002 | 6.0 | 9.1 | -828 |
| Total Population | 33,569 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 33,623 | 100.0 | 100.0 | -55 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
(Usual residence data)
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rowville - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | Australia % | Number | % | Australia % | 2016 to 2021 | |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 8,126 | 24.2 | 19.6 | 35044 | 8,951 | 26.6 | 22.3 | -825 |
| Anglican | 2,242 | 6.7 | 9.8 | 35000 | 2,940 | 8.7 | 13.3 | -699 |
| Buddhism | 1,669 | 5.0 | 2.4 | 35008 | 1,555 | 4.6 | 2.4 | +113 |
| Hinduism | 1,188 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 35016 | 948 | 2.8 | 1.9 | +240 |
| Christian,nfd | 1,072 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 35011 | 943 | 2.8 | 2.6 | +128 |
| Greek Orthodox | 1,049 | 3.1 | 1.5 | 35015 | 1,118 | 3.3 | 1.6 | -70 |
| Islam | 804 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 35017 | 620 | 1.8 | 2.6 | +184 |
| Uniting Church | 754 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 35043 | 1,045 | 3.1 | 3.7 | -292 |
| Baptist | 594 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 35006 | 600 | 1.8 | 1.5 | -6 |
| Pentecostal | 529 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 35033 | 565 | 1.7 | 1.1 | -36 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 441 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 35036 | 635 | 1.9 | 2.3 | -195 |
| Coptic Orthodox | 235 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 35014 | 223 | 0.7 | 0.1 | +12 |
| Sikhism | 226 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 35041 | 217 | 0.6 | 0.5 | +8 |
| Other Protestant | 153 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 35034 | 189 | 0.6 | 0.5 | -36 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 93 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 35039 | 67 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +25 |
| Lutheran | 85 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 35021 | 132 | 0.4 | 0.7 | -47 |
| Other Non-Christian Religions | 83 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35031 | 46 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +36 |
| Baha'i | 82 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35005 | 72 | 0.2 | 0.1 | +9 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 82 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 35001 | 137 | 0.4 | 0.0 | -56 |
| Churches of Christ | 78 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35013 | 89 | 0.3 | 0.2 | -12 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 66 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 35040 | 68 | 0.2 | 0.3 | -3 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 64 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 35018 | 56 | 0.2 | 0.4 | +7 |
| Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 60 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35020 | 51 | 0.2 | 0.3 | +8 |
| Salvation Army | 55 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35038 | 76 | 0.2 | 0.2 | -22 |
| Other Eastern Catholic | 53 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35028 | 38 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +14 |
| Macedonian Orthodox | 49 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 35022 | 44 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +4 |
| Russian Orthodox | 48 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35037 | 33 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +14 |
| Other Eastern Orthodox | 47 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35029 | 45 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +2 |
| Judaism | 33 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 35019 | 43 | 0.1 | 0.4 | -11 |
| Brethren | 25 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35007 | 33 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -8 |
| Other Christian | 19 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35027 | 24 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -6 |
| Chinese and Japanese Religions | 12 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35009 | 9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +3 |
| Paganism | 11 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35035 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +3 |
| Other Oriental Orthodox | 10 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35032 | 18 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -9 |
| Assyrian Apostolic | 10 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35003 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +10 |
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
Excludes religions with fewer than 10 adherents.
Compiled and presented in profile.id by .id (informed decisions).
Compiled and presented in profile.id by .id (informed decisions).
Dominant groups
Analysis of the religious affiliation of the population of Rowville in 2021 compared to Australia shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 60.1% of the population nominated a religion, and 36.0% said they had no religion, compared with 53.8% and 38.7% respectively for Australia.
The largest single religion in Rowville was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 24.2% of the population or 8,126 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Rowville and Australia were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (24.2% compared to 19.6%)
- A larger percentage who nominated Buddhism (5.0% compared to 2.4%)
- A larger percentage who nominated Greek Orthodox (3.1% compared to 1.5%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Anglican (6.7% compared to 9.8%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Rowville between 2016 and 2021 were for those who nominated:
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-825 persons)
- Anglican (-699 persons)
- Uniting Church (-292 persons)
- Hinduism (+240 persons)