idc-logo
svg rectangle color
Mornington Peninsula ShireCommunity profile

Mornington Peninsula Shire

Religion

reset

In Mornington Peninsula Shire in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (18.4% of all people), while 48.8% of people had no religion and 6.8% did not answer the question on religion.

Mornington Peninsula 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.

Mornington Peninsula 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
Mornington Peninsula Shire - Total persons (Usual residence)20212011Change
Religion totalsNumber%Greater Melbourne %Number%Greater Melbourne %2011 to 2021
Christian total71,26042.240.185,04558.855.8-13,785
Non Christian total2,6371.616.32,4201.711.8+217
Non-classifiable religious belief1,1140.70.61,3821.00.9-268
No Religion/secular beliefs82,45948.837.241,78928.923.5+40,670
Not stated11,4826.85.813,9749.78.1-2,492
Total Population168,952100.0100.0144,610100.0100.0+24,342
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2011 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information
Religion - Ranked by size
Mornington Peninsula Shire - Total persons (Usual residence)20212011Change
ReligionNumber%Greater Melbourne %Number%Greater Melbourne %2011 to 2021
Western (Roman) Catholic31,02218.420.531,84722.027.1-825
Anglican21,31912.65.530,55721.110.8-9,238
Uniting Church5,0183.01.77,2185.03.4-2,200
Presbyterian and Reformed3,2211.91.15,2423.62.1-2,021
Christian,nfd2,7661.62.72,4901.71.9+276
Greek Orthodox2,2761.33.31,5561.14.0+720
Baptist2,0311.21.32,2231.51.5-192
Buddhism1,1080.73.91,1700.84.0-62
Pentecostal7310.40.97600.50.9-29
Jehova's Witnesses5690.30.25590.40.3+10
Show all (40 entries)
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2011 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 Mornington Peninsula Shire in 2021 compared to Greater Melbourne shows that there was a lower proportion of people who professed a religion and a higher proportion who stated they had no religion.

Overall, 43.7% of the population nominated a religion, and 48.8% said they had no religion, compared with 56.4% and 37.2% respectively for Greater Melbourne.

The largest single religion in Mornington Peninsula Shire was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 18.4% of the population or 31,022 people as adherents.

The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Mornington Peninsula Shire and Greater Melbourne were:

  • A larger percentage who nominated Anglican (12.6% compared to 5.5%)
  • A smaller percentage who nominated Islam (0.2% compared to 5.3%)
  • A smaller percentage who nominated Hinduism (0.2% compared to 4.1%)
  • A smaller percentage who nominated Buddhism (0.7% compared to 3.9%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Mornington Peninsula Shire between 2011 and 2021 were for those who nominated:

  • Anglican (-9,238 persons)
  • Uniting Church (-2,200 persons)
  • Presbyterian and Reformed (-2,021 persons)
  • Western (Roman) Catholic (-825 persons)

DISCLAIMER: While all due care has been taken to ensure that the content of this website is accurate and current, there may be errors or omissions in it and no legal responsibility is accepted for the information and opinions in this website.

Please view our Privacy Policy, Terms of use and Legal notices.

ABS Data and the copyright in the ABS Data remains the property of the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The copyright in the way .id has modified, transformed or reconfigured the ABS Data as published on this website remains the property of .id. ABS Data can be accessed from the Australian Bureau of Statistics at www.abs.gov.au. ABS data can be used under license - terms published on ABS website. intermediary.management@abs.gov.au if you have any queries or wish to distribute any ABS data.