Strathfield Council
Religion
In Strathfield Council in 2016, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (20.4% of all people), while 21.7% of people had no religion and 9.0% did not answer the question on religion.
Strathfield Council'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.
Strathfield Council'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 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strathfield Council - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 1991 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | SSROC region % | Number | % | SSROC region % | 1991 to 2016 | |
| Christian total | 16,515 | 41.0 | 46.7 | 35500 | 18,974 | 75.5 | 80.2 | -2,459 |
| Non Christian total | 11,267 | 27.9 | 15.0 | 35501 | 2,162 | 8.6 | 4.7 | +9,105 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 142 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 35502 | 38 | 0.2 | 0.3 | +104 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 8,761 | 21.7 | 28.1 | 35503 | 2,507 | 10.0 | 8.6 | +6,254 |
| Not stated | 3,632 | 9.0 | 9.7 | 35504 | 1,441 | 5.7 | 6.2 | +2,191 |
| Total Population | 40,317 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 25,122 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +15,195 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 1991 and 2016. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
(Usual residence data)
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strathfield Council - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 1991 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | SSROC region % | Number | % | SSROC region % | 1991 to 2016 | |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 8,234 | 20.4 | 22.5 | 35044 | 9,676 | 38.5 | 33.5 | -1,442 |
| Hinduism | 6,598 | 16.4 | 2.5 | 35016 | 931 | 3.7 | 0.6 | +5,667 |
| Buddhism | 2,280 | 5.7 | 4.2 | 35008 | 497 | 2.0 | 1.2 | +1,783 |
| Islam | 1,968 | 4.9 | 6.2 | 35017 | 525 | 2.1 | 2.6 | +1,443 |
| Anglican | 1,559 | 3.9 | 8.8 | 35000 | 4,053 | 16.1 | 25.8 | -2,494 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 1,375 | 3.4 | 1.6 | 35036 | 994 | 4.0 | 3.9 | +381 |
| Maronite Catholic | 936 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 35023 | 0 | 0.0 | -- | +936 |
| Greek Orthodox | 935 | 2.3 | 4.8 | 35015 | 1,098 | 4.4 | 4.4 | -163 |
| Christian,nfd | 797 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 35011 | 199 | 0.8 | 0.6 | +598 |
| Uniting Church | 774 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 35043 | 1,225 | 4.9 | 5.3 | -451 |
| Baptist | 382 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 35006 | 341 | 1.4 | 1.9 | +41 |
| Pentecostal | 289 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 35033 | 117 | 0.5 | 0.6 | +172 |
| Sikhism | 252 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 35041 | 26 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +226 |
| Coptic Orthodox | 230 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 35014 | 98 | 0.4 | 0.2 | +132 |
| Other Protestant | 164 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 35034 | 29 | 0.1 | 0.3 | +135 |
| Russian Orthodox | 153 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 35037 | 383 | 1.5 | 0.3 | -230 |
| Other Eastern Orthodox | 120 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 35029 | 113 | 0.4 | 0.5 | +7 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 96 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35040 | 115 | 0.5 | 0.1 | -19 |
| Other Eastern Catholic | 84 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35028 | 0 | 0.0 | -- | +84 |
| Other Non-Christian Religions | 75 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35031 | 29 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +46 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 68 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35018 | 55 | 0.2 | 0.3 | +13 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 67 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35039 | 99 | 0.4 | 0.1 | -32 |
| Other Oriental Orthodox | 55 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35032 | 22 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +33 |
| Christadelphian | 39 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35010 | 29 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +10 |
| Judaism | 36 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 35019 | 136 | 0.5 | 0.2 | -100 |
| Lutheran | 32 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 35021 | 142 | 0.6 | 0.6 | -110 |
| Churches of Christ | 22 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35013 | 28 | 0.1 | 0.3 | -6 |
| Brethren | 19 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35007 | 43 | 0.2 | 0.1 | -24 |
| Baha'i | 18 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35005 | 13 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +5 |
| Salvation Army | 18 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35038 | 41 | 0.2 | 0.3 | -23 |
| Chinese and Japanese Religions | 16 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35009 | 0 | 0.0 | -- | +16 |
| Assyrian Apostolic | 16 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35003 | 14 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +2 |
| Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 15 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35020 | 22 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -7 |
| Macedonian Orthodox | 13 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 35022 | 9 | 0.0 | 0.6 | +4 |
| Other Christian | 12 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35027 | 15 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -3 |
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 1991 and 2016. 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 Strathfield Council in 2016 compared to SSROC region shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 68.9% of the population nominated a religion, and 21.7% said they had no religion, compared with 61.7% and 28.1% respectively for SSROC region.
The largest single religion in Strathfield Council was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 20.4% of the population or 8,234 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Strathfield Council and SSROC region were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Hinduism (16.4% compared to 2.5%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Anglican (3.9% compared to 8.8%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Greek Orthodox (2.3% compared to 4.8%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (20.4% compared to 22.5%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Strathfield Council between 1991 and 2016 were for those who nominated:
- Hinduism (+5,667 persons)
- Anglican (-2,494 persons)
- Buddhism (+1,783 persons)
- Islam (+1,443 persons)