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RDA Darling Downs and South West RegionCommunity profile

RDA Darling Downs and South West Region

Religion

In the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (20.6% of all people), while 31.3% of people had no religion and 8.1% did not answer the question on religion.

The RDA Darling Downs and South West Region'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 RDA Darling Downs and South West Region'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
RDA Darling Downs and South West Region - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Religion totalsNumber%Regional QLD %Number%Regional QLD %2016 to 2021
Christian total156,73656.547.2179,44367.958.4-22,707
Non Christian total9,8723.63.16,3462.42.7+3,526
Non-classifiable religious belief1,5200.50.61,1910.50.6+329
No Religion/secular beliefs86,92331.340.352,06019.728.2+34,863
Not stated22,3988.18.825,0759.510.1-2,677
Total Population277,449100.0100.0264,115100.0100.0+13,334
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
RDA Darling Downs and South West Region - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
ReligionNumber%Regional QLD %Number%Regional QLD %2016 to 2021
Western (Roman) Catholic57,28320.618.763,28224.022.0-5,999
Anglican44,86416.212.854,64220.717.1-9,778
Uniting Church12,3004.44.015,6685.95.6-3,368
Christian,nfd11,5834.23.010,2253.93.0+1,358
Presbyterian and Reformed8,4573.02.310,9494.13.2-2,492
Lutheran6,9002.51.18,1293.11.3-1,229
Pentecostal3,8281.41.44,2181.61.5-390
Baptist3,7871.41.44,0021.51.6-215
Hinduism2,4560.90.71,5000.60.5+956
Other Non-Christian Religions2,1890.80.1890.00.0+2,100
Show all (39 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 the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region in 2021 compared to Regional QLD shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.

Overall, 60.0% of the population nominated a religion, and 31.3% said they had no religion, compared with 50.2% and 40.3% respectively for Regional QLD.

The largest single religion in the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 20.6% of the population or 57,283 people as adherents.

The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region and Regional QLD were:

  • A larger percentage who nominated Anglican (16.2% compared to 12.8%)
  • A larger percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (20.6% compared to 18.7%)
  • A larger percentage who nominated Lutheran (2.5% compared to 1.1%)
  • A larger percentage who nominated Christian,nfd (4.2% compared to 3.0%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region between 2016 and 2021 were for those who nominated:

  • Anglican (-9,778 persons)
  • Western (Roman) Catholic (-5,999 persons)
  • Uniting Church (-3,368 persons)
  • Presbyterian and Reformed (-2,492 persons)

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