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RDA Darling Downs and South West RegionCommunity profile

Toowoomba Regional Council area

Religion

In Toowoomba Regional Council area in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (20.0% of all people), while 31.9% of people had no religion and 6.6% did not answer the question on religion.

Toowoomba Regional Council area'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.

Toowoomba Regional Council area'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
Toowoomba Regional Council area - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Religion totalsNumber%RDA Darling Downs and South West Region %Number%RDA Darling Downs and South West Region %2016 to 2021
Christian total96,81155.956.5108,18567.367.9-11,374
Non Christian total8,5845.03.65,0013.12.4+3,583
Non-classifiable religious belief1,0620.60.58150.50.5+247
No Religion/secular beliefs55,29031.931.332,60120.319.7+22,689
Not stated11,4536.68.114,1738.89.5-2,720
Total Population173,200100.0100.0160,775100.0100.0+12,425
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
Toowoomba Regional Council area - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
ReligionNumber%RDA Darling Downs and South West Region %Number%RDA Darling Downs and South West Region %2016 to 2021
Western (Roman) Catholic34,59720.020.637,35223.224.0-2,755
Anglican25,73014.916.230,60919.020.7-4,879
Christian,nfd8,6365.04.27,3934.63.9+1,243
Uniting Church7,5164.34.49,5235.95.9-2,007
Lutheran5,4453.12.56,3834.03.1-938
Presbyterian and Reformed4,5502.63.05,9343.74.1-1,384
Pentecostal2,5391.51.42,8581.81.6-319
Baptist2,3861.41.42,4691.51.5-83
Other Non-Christian Religions2,1621.20.8610.00.0+2,101
Hinduism2,1601.20.91,2280.80.6+932
Show all (38 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 Toowoomba Regional Council area in 2021 compared to the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion as well as a higher proportion who stated they had no religion.

Overall, 60.9% of the population nominated a religion, and 31.9% said they had no religion, compared with 60.0% and 31.3% respectively for the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region.

The largest single religion in Toowoomba Regional Council area was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 20.0% of the population or 34,597 people as adherents.

The major difference between the religious affiliation for the population of Toowoomba Regional Council area and the RDA Darling Downs and South West Region was:

  • A smaller percentage who nominated Anglican (14.9% compared to 16.2%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Toowoomba Regional Council area between 2016 and 2021 were for those who nominated:

  • Anglican (-4,879 persons)
  • Western (Roman) Catholic (-2,755 persons)
  • Other Non-Christian Religions (+2,101 persons)
  • Uniting Church (-2,007 persons)

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