City of Onkaparinga
Religion
In the City of Onkaparinga in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (11.2% of all people), while 56.2% of people had no religion and 5.6% did not answer the question on religion.
The City of Onkaparinga'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.
The City of Onkaparinga'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 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Onkaparinga - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Old Noarlunga % | Number | % | Old Noarlunga % | 2001 to 2021 | |
 Christian total | 61,005 | 34.8 | 30.0 | 35500 | 86,896 | 59.1 | 53.5 | -25,891 |
| Non Christian total | 4,633 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 35501 | 2,026 | 1.4 | 1.0 | +2,607 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 1,285 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 35502 | 4,101 | 2.8 | 2.3 | -2,816 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 98,445 | 56.2 | 61.9 | 35503 | 37,281 | 25.4 | 30.0 | +61,164 |
| Not stated | 9,865 | 5.6 | 6.0 | 35504 | 16,645 | 11.3 | 13.2 | -6,780 |
| Total Population | 175,233 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 146,949 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +28,284 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2001 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
(Usual residence data)
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Onkaparinga - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | Old Noarlunga % | Number | % | Old Noarlunga % | 2001 to 2021 | |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 19,696 | 11.2 | 10.5 | 35044 | 23,647 | 16.1 | 13.6 | -3,951 |
| Anglican | 14,123 | 8.1 | 7.6 | 35000 | 26,054 | 17.7 | 17.9 | -11,931 |
| Uniting Church | 7,804 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 35043 | 15,227 | 10.4 | 9.9 | -7,423 |
| Christian,nfd | 5,604 | 3.2 | 2.3 | 35011 | 3,080 | 2.1 | 3.4 | +2,524 |
| Baptist | 2,755 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 35006 | 3,532 | 2.4 | 1.1 | -777 |
| Lutheran | 2,602 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 35021 | 4,621 | 3.1 | 2.3 | -2,019 |
| Pentecostal | 2,072 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 35033 | 2,445 | 1.7 | 1.4 | -373 |
| Buddhism | 1,279 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 35008 | 644 | 0.4 | 0.2 | +635 |
| Greek Orthodox | 1,217 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 35015 | 1,258 | 0.9 | 0.2 | -41 |
| Islam | 1,156 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 35017 | 342 | 0.2 | -- | +814 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 1,033 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 35036 | 1,974 | 1.3 | 1.3 | -941 |
| Hinduism | 902 | 0.5 | -- | 35016 | 179 | 0.1 | -- | +723 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 761 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 35018 | 1,001 | 0.7 | 1.1 | -240 |
| Other Protestant | 644 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 35034 | 334 | 0.2 | 0.4 | +310 |
| Churches of Christ | 423 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35013 | 1,000 | 0.7 | 0.6 | -577 |
| Christadelphian | 380 | 0.2 | -- | 35010 | 547 | 0.4 | -- | -167 |
| Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 371 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 35020 | 518 | 0.4 | 0.4 | -147 |
| Sikhism | 353 | 0.2 | -- | 35041 | 24 | 0.0 | -- | +329 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 343 | 0.2 | -- | 35040 | 310 | 0.2 | -- | +33 |
| Salvation Army | 240 | 0.1 | -- | 35038 | 535 | 0.4 | -- | -295 |
| Paganism | 230 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 35035 | 122 | 0.1 | -- | +108 |
| Brethren | 213 | 0.1 | -- | 35007 | 194 | 0.1 | -- | +19 |
| Baha'i | 193 | 0.1 | -- | 35005 | 303 | 0.2 | -- | -110 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 152 | 0.1 | -- | 35039 | 166 | 0.1 | -- | -14 |
| Other Non-Christian Religions | 125 | 0.1 | -- | 35031 | 117 | 0.1 | -- | +8 |
| Other Christian | 116 | 0.1 | -- | 35027 | 152 | 0.1 | -- | -36 |
| Wiccan/Witchcraft | 114 | 0.1 | -- | 35045 | 106 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +8 |
| Maronite Catholic | 103 | 0.1 | -- | 35023 | 44 | 0.0 | -- | +59 |
| Russian Orthodox | 98 | 0.1 | -- | 35037 | 57 | 0.0 | -- | +41 |
| Judaism | 98 | 0.1 | -- | 35019 | 49 | 0.0 | -- | +49 |
| Spiritualism | 75 | 0.0 | -- | 35042 | 93 | 0.1 | -- | -18 |
| Coptic Orthodox | 72 | 0.0 | -- | 35014 | 53 | 0.0 | -- | +19 |
| Other Eastern Catholic | 64 | 0.0 | -- | 35028 | 9 | 0.0 | -- | +55 |
| Other Nature Religions | 56 | 0.0 | -- | 35030 | 35 | 0.0 | 0.5 | +21 |
| Other Eastern Orthodox | 49 | 0.0 | -- | 35029 | 109 | 0.1 | -- | -60 |
| Other Oriental Orthodox | 40 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 35032 | 10 | 0.0 | -- | +30 |
| Chinese and Japanese Religions | 31 | 0.0 | -- | 35009 | 12 | 0.0 | -- | +19 |
| Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions | 21 | 0.0 | -- | 35004 | 0 | 0.0 | -- | +21 |
| Macedonian Orthodox | 18 | 0.0 | -- | 35022 | 10 | 0.0 | -- | +8 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 12 | 0.0 | -- | 35001 | 9 | 0.0 | -- | +3 |
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2001 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 the City of Onkaparinga in 2021 compared to Old Noarlunga shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 37.5% of the population nominated a religion, and 56.2% said they had no religion, compared with 31.2% and 61.9% respectively for Old Noarlunga.
The largest single religion in the City of Onkaparinga was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 11.2% of the population or 19,696 people as adherents.
There were no major differences between City of Onkaparinga and Old Noarlunga in 2021.
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in the City of Onkaparinga between 2001 and 2021 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-11,931 persons)
- Uniting Church (-7,423 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-3,951 persons)
- Christian,nfd (+2,524 persons)