Central Coast Council area
Religion
In Central Coast Council area in 2016, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (24.7% of all people), while 27.9% of people had no religion and 7.8% did not answer the question on religion.
Central Coast 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.
Central Coast 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.
Derived from the Census question:
'What is the person's religion?'
Total population
| Religion - Summary | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Coast Council area - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | East Gosford - Point Frederick % | Number | % | East Gosford - Point Frederick % | 2011 to 2016 | |
| Christian total | 201,778 | 61.6 | 58.6 | 35500 | 221,523 | 71.0 | 67.6 | -19,745 |
| Non Christian total | 6,936 | 2.1 | 4.1 | 35501 | 5,913 | 1.9 | 3.8 | +1,023 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 1,847 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 35502 | 2,239 | 0.7 | 0.9 | -392 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 91,459 | 27.9 | 27.2 | 35503 | 58,754 | 18.8 | 19.0 | +32,705 |
| Not stated | 25,713 | 7.8 | 9.4 | 35504 | 23,756 | 7.6 | 8.7 | +1,957 |
| Total Population | 327,733 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 312,185 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +15,548 | |
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 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Coast Council area - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | East Gosford - Point Frederick % | Number | % | East Gosford - Point Frederick % | 2011 to 2016 | |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 80,814 | 24.7 | 25.4 | 35044 | 82,630 | 26.5 | 27.4 | -1,816 |
| Anglican | 73,814 | 22.5 | 17.7 | 35000 | 88,916 | 28.5 | 22.7 | -15,102 |
| Uniting Church | 10,510 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 35043 | 13,089 | 4.2 | 4.1 | -2,579 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 8,656 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 35036 | 9,919 | 3.2 | 3.2 | -1,263 |
| Christian,nfd | 7,043 | 2.1 | -- | 35011 | 7,096 | 2.3 | 2.8 | -53 |
| Baptist | 5,621 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 35006 | 5,856 | 1.9 | 1.6 | -235 |
| Pentecostal | 3,467 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 35033 | 3,009 | 1.0 | 1.9 | +458 |
| Buddhism | 3,179 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 35008 | 2,740 | 0.9 | 1.5 | +439 |
| Other Protestant | 3,079 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 35034 | 1,540 | 0.5 | 0.6 | +1,539 |
| Greek Orthodox | 1,467 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 35015 | 1,433 | 0.5 | 0.2 | +34 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 1,419 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 35040 | 1,523 | 0.5 | 0.4 | -104 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 1,354 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 35018 | 1,441 | 0.5 | 0.3 | -87 |
| Hinduism | 1,158 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 35016 | 719 | 0.2 | 0.7 | +439 |
| Islam | 1,030 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 35017 | 969 | 0.3 | 0.8 | +61 |
| Salvation Army | 893 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 35038 | 1,020 | 0.3 | 0.6 | -127 |
| Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 769 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35020 | 867 | 0.3 | 0.2 | -98 |
| Lutheran | 753 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 35021 | 1,238 | 0.4 | 0.7 | -485 |
| Churches of Christ | 429 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35013 | 468 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -39 |
| Russian Orthodox | 372 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35037 | 290 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +82 |
| Judaism | 356 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35019 | 364 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -8 |
| Paganism | 306 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35035 | 291 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +15 |
| Other Christian | 247 | 0.1 | 2.5 | 35027 | 282 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -35 |
| Sikhism | 243 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 35041 | 104 | 0.0 | -- | +139 |
| Brethren | 239 | 0.1 | -- | 35007 | 197 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +42 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 212 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35039 | 185 | 0.1 | -- | +27 |
| Other Non-Christian Religions | 151 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35031 | 144 | 0.0 | 0.2 | +7 |
| Spiritualism | 140 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35042 | 146 | 0.0 | -- | -6 |
| Other Eastern Catholic | 128 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35028 | 16 | 0.0 | -- | +112 |
| Christadelphian | 123 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35010 | 151 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -28 |
| Wiccan/Witchcraft | 109 | 0.0 | -- | 35045 | 121 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -12 |
| Coptic Orthodox | 101 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 35014 | 85 | 0.0 | 0.3 | +16 |
| Other Nature Religions | 87 | 0.0 | -- | 35030 | 124 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -37 |
| Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions | 78 | 0.0 | -- | 35004 | 32 | 0.0 | -- | +46 |
| Baha'i | 73 | 0.0 | -- | 35005 | 107 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -34 |
| Other Oriental Orthodox | 65 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35032 | 10 | 0.0 | -- | +55 |
| Other Eastern Orthodox | 63 | 0.0 | -- | 35029 | 189 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -126 |
| Maronite Catholic | 60 | 0.0 | -- | 35023 | 19 | 0.0 | -- | +41 |
| Chinese and Japanese Religions | 48 | 0.0 | -- | 35009 | 52 | 0.0 | -- | -4 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 39 | 0.0 | -- | 35001 | 26 | 0.0 | -- | +13 |
| Macedonian Orthodox | 34 | 0.0 | -- | 35022 | 22 | 0.0 | -- | +12 |
| Assyrian Apostolic | 26 | 0.0 | -- | 35003 | 6 | 0.0 | -- | +20 |
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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 Central Coast Council area in 2016 compared to East Gosford - Point Frederick 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, 63.7% of the population nominated a religion, and 27.9% said they had no religion, compared with 62.7% and 27.2% respectively for East Gosford - Point Frederick.
The largest single religion in Central Coast Council area was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 24.7% of the population or 80,814 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Central Coast Council area and East Gosford - Point Frederick were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Anglican (22.5% compared to 17.7%)
- A larger percentage who nominated Christian,nfd (2.1% compared to 0.0%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Other Christian (0.1% compared to 2.5%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Central Coast Council area between 2011 and 2016 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-15,102 persons)
- Uniting Church (-2,579 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-1,816 persons)
- Other Protestant (+1,539 persons)