City of Knox
Religion
In the City of Knox in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (18.7% of all people), while 41.4% of people had no religion and 4.6% did not answer the question on religion.
The City of Knox'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 City of Knox'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 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Knox - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2006 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Rowville (North) % | Number | % | Rowville (North) % | 2006 to 2021 | |
 Christian total | 67,869 | 42.7 | 47.6 | 35500 | 87,877 | 59.9 | 62.9 | -20,008 |
| Non Christian total | 17,044 | 10.7 | 11.4 | 35501 | 9,060 | 6.2 | 7.6 | +7,984 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 1,033 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 35502 | 1,137 | 0.8 | 0.6 | -104 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 65,812 | 41.4 | 37.4 | 35503 | 33,583 | 22.9 | 20.6 | +32,229 |
| Not stated | 7,337 | 4.6 | 3.3 | 35504 | 15,080 | 10.3 | 8.3 | -7,743 |
| Total Population | 159,095 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 146,737 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +12,358 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2006 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
(Usual residence data)
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Knox - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2006 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | Rowville (North) % | Number | % | Rowville (North) % | 2006 to 2021 | |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 29,770 | 18.7 | 22.8 | 35044 | 37,747 | 25.7 | 29.6 | -7,977 |
| Anglican | 10,681 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 35000 | 20,450 | 13.9 | 14.4 | -9,769 |
| Buddhism | 6,881 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 35008 | 4,260 | 2.9 | 3.3 | +2,621 |
| Hinduism | 5,662 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 35016 | 1,982 | 1.4 | 1.8 | +3,680 |
| Christian,nfd | 5,636 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 35011 | 2,637 | 1.8 | 1.5 | +2,999 |
| Baptist | 3,665 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 35006 | 3,376 | 2.3 | 2.3 | +289 |
| Uniting Church | 3,638 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 35043 | 7,030 | 4.8 | 4.5 | -3,392 |
| Greek Orthodox | 3,212 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 35015 | 3,172 | 2.2 | 2.7 | +40 |
| Pentecostal | 2,907 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 35033 | 2,833 | 1.9 | 2.2 | +74 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 2,748 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 35036 | 3,994 | 2.7 | 2.2 | -1,246 |
| Islam | 2,457 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 35017 | 1,518 | 1.0 | 1.6 | +939 |
| Sikhism | 979 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 35041 | 417 | 0.3 | 0.6 | +562 |
| Other Protestant | 832 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 35034 | 416 | 0.3 | 0.3 | +416 |
| Lutheran | 606 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 35021 | 1,452 | 1.0 | 0.5 | -846 |
| Churches of Christ | 551 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 35013 | 689 | 0.5 | 0.3 | -138 |
| Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 526 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 35020 | 571 | 0.4 | 0.6 | -45 |
| Coptic Orthodox | 435 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 35014 | 306 | 0.2 | 0.4 | +129 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 426 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 35040 | 430 | 0.3 | 0.3 | -4 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 321 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35018 | 318 | 0.2 | 0.1 | +3 |
| Salvation Army | 309 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35038 | 609 | 0.4 | 0.4 | -300 |
| Other Non-Christian Religions | 297 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 35031 | 165 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +132 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 289 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35039 | 330 | 0.2 | 0.1 | -41 |
| Baha'i | 275 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 35005 | 195 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +80 |
| Other Christian | 207 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35027 | 332 | 0.2 | 0.1 | -125 |
| Brethren | 187 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 35007 | 294 | 0.2 | -- | -107 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 162 | 0.1 | -- | 35001 | 197 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -35 |
| Judaism | 149 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35019 | 122 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +27 |
| Other Eastern Catholic | 146 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 35028 | 30 | 0.0 | -- | +116 |
| Russian Orthodox | 135 | 0.1 | -- | 35037 | 97 | 0.1 | -- | +38 |
| Christadelphian | 123 | 0.1 | -- | 35010 | 153 | 0.1 | -- | -30 |
| Macedonian Orthodox | 111 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 35022 | 96 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +15 |
| Paganism | 108 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35035 | 111 | 0.1 | -- | -3 |
| Other Eastern Orthodox | 104 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35029 | 273 | 0.2 | 0.2 | -169 |
| Other Oriental Orthodox | 92 | 0.1 | -- | 35032 | 25 | 0.0 | -- | +67 |
| Chinese and Japanese Religions | 81 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35009 | 58 | 0.0 | -- | +23 |
| Spiritualism | 53 | 0.0 | -- | 35042 | 112 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -59 |
| Wiccan/Witchcraft | 52 | 0.0 | -- | 35045 | 75 | 0.1 | -- | -23 |
| Other Nature Religions | 42 | 0.0 | -- | 35030 | 45 | 0.0 | -- | -3 |
| Maronite Catholic | 25 | 0.0 | -- | 35023 | 17 | 0.0 | -- | +8 |
| Assyrian Apostolic | 25 | 0.0 | -- | 35003 | 3 | 0.0 | -- | +22 |
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2006 and 2021. 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 the City of Knox in 2021 compared to Rowville (North) shows that there was a lower proportion of people who professed a religion and a higher proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 53.4% of the population nominated a religion, and 41.4% said they had no religion, compared with 59.0% and 37.4% respectively for Rowville (North).
The largest single religion in the City of Knox was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 18.7% of the population or 29,770 people as adherents.
The major difference between the religious affiliation for the population of the City of Knox and Rowville (North) was:
- A smaller percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (18.7% compared to 22.8%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in the City of Knox between 2006 and 2021 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-9,769 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-7,977 persons)
- Hinduism (+3,680 persons)
- Uniting Church (-3,392 persons)