Yarra Ranges Council
Religion
In Yarra Ranges Council in 2016, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (18.1% of all people), while 42.8% of people had no religion and 8.2% did not answer the question on religion.
Yarra Ranges 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.
Yarra Ranges 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 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yarra Ranges Council - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Chirnside Park % | Number | % | Chirnside Park % | 2011 to 2016 | |
 Christian total | 68,535 | 45.8 | 55.0 | 35500 | 77,934 | 53.9 | 64.1 | -9,399 |
| Non Christian total | 3,349 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 35501 | 3,257 | 2.3 | 1.9 | +92 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 1,407 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 35502 | 1,670 | 1.2 | 0.7 | -263 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 63,989 | 42.8 | 35.5 | 35503 | 48,832 | 33.8 | 25.3 | +15,157 |
| Not stated | 12,258 | 8.2 | 6.7 | 35504 | 12,840 | 8.9 | 8.1 | -582 |
| Total Population | 149,538 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 144,533 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +5,005 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2011 and 2016. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
(Usual residence data)
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yarra Ranges Council - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | Chirnside Park % | Number | % | Chirnside Park % | 2011 to 2016 | |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 27,010 | 18.1 | 23.2 | 35044 | 29,179 | 20.2 | 24.9 | -2,169 |
| Anglican | 16,247 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 35000 | 20,937 | 14.5 | 16.0 | -4,690 |
| Christian,nfd | 5,774 | 3.9 | 0.1 | 35011 | 5,358 | 3.7 | 3.7 | +416 |
| Uniting Church | 5,161 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 35043 | 6,487 | 4.5 | 5.0 | -1,326 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 3,444 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 35036 | 4,325 | 3.0 | 3.3 | -881 |
| Baptist | 3,416 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 35006 | 3,236 | 2.2 | 2.6 | +180 |
| Pentecostal | 1,682 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 35033 | 1,788 | 1.2 | 2.6 | -106 |
| Buddhism | 1,489 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 35008 | 1,460 | 1.0 | 0.8 | +29 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 902 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 35040 | 1,012 | 0.7 | 0.5 | -110 |
| Lutheran | 881 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 35021 | 1,365 | 0.9 | 1.4 | -484 |
| Greek Orthodox | 820 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 35015 | 830 | 0.6 | 0.8 | -10 |
| Other Protestant | 557 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 35034 | 332 | 0.2 | 0.4 | +225 |
| Churches of Christ | 512 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 35013 | 785 | 0.5 | 0.5 | -273 |
| Hinduism | 510 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 35016 | 265 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +245 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 499 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 35018 | 562 | 0.4 | 0.1 | -63 |
| Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 349 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 35020 | 325 | 0.2 | 0.3 | +24 |
| Salvation Army | 347 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 35038 | 445 | 0.3 | 0.4 | -98 |
| Islam | 303 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 35017 | 299 | 0.2 | 0.5 | +4 |
| Brethren | 250 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 35007 | 249 | 0.2 | 0.6 | +1 |
| Christadelphian | 196 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 35010 | 213 | 0.1 | 0.3 | -17 |
| Paganism | 188 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35035 | 237 | 0.2 | 0.1 | -49 |
| Sikhism | 178 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 35041 | 85 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +93 |
| Other Christian | 176 | 0.1 | 4.3 | 35027 | 166 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +10 |
| Judaism | 165 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35019 | 186 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -21 |
| Spiritualism | 159 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35042 | 196 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -37 |
| Other Non-Christian Religions | 145 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35031 | 227 | 0.2 | 0.1 | -82 |
| Russian Orthodox | 87 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35037 | 82 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +5 |
| Other Nature Religions | 66 | 0.0 | -- | 35030 | 109 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -43 |
| Wiccan/Witchcraft | 63 | 0.0 | -- | 35045 | 102 | 0.1 | -- | -39 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 61 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35039 | 53 | 0.0 | -- | +8 |
| Other Eastern Orthodox | 54 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 35029 | 99 | 0.1 | 0.3 | -45 |
| Chinese and Japanese Religions | 45 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35009 | 41 | 0.0 | -- | +4 |
| Macedonian Orthodox | 44 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35022 | 46 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -2 |
| Baha'i | 42 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35005 | 31 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +11 |
| Other Eastern Catholic | 35 | 0.0 | -- | 35028 | 17 | 0.0 | -- | +18 |
| Coptic Orthodox | 16 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35014 | 24 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -8 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 13 | 0.0 | -- | 35001 | 10 | 0.0 | -- | +3 |
| Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions | 12 | 0.0 | -- | 35004 | 19 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -7 |
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2011 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 Yarra Ranges Council in 2016 compared to Chirnside Park shows that there was a lower proportion of people who professed a religion and a higher proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 48.1% of the population nominated a religion, and 42.8% said they had no religion, compared with 57.3% and 35.5% respectively for Chirnside Park.
The largest single religion in Yarra Ranges Council was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 18.1% of the population or 27,010 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Yarra Ranges Council and Chirnside Park were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Christian,nfd (3.9% compared to 0.1%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (18.1% compared to 23.2%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Other Christian (0.1% compared to 4.3%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Yarra Ranges Council between 2011 and 2016 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-4,690 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-2,169 persons)
- Uniting Church (-1,326 persons)
- Presbyterian and Reformed (-881 persons)