THE AUSTRALIAN: AUSTRALIANS are losing their faith with religion, census figures reveal, with close to 4.8 million people saying they have no affiliation.
For those who do believe, the greatest growth is among followers of Islam, with the number of Muslims up 40 per cent since the 2006 census.
The figures confirm the long-term trend in declining religious affiliation and the fall in Christian faiths.
In 1911, 96 per cent of people identified themselves as Christian. In 1976, 89 per cent did so. Thirty-five years later, that figure has fallen to 61 per cent.
The number of non-believers continues to rise, with 22 per cent of Australians saying they have "no religion". The term includes people who filled in atheism, agnosticism, humanism or rationalism on the census form. The figure is a 29 per cent increase on 2006 figures. At that time 3.7 million Australians -- 18 per cent of the population -- reported having no religious affiliation.
The census data also reveals that 1.8 million people didn't even answer the question on religion.
In relation to gender, women tend to be more religious than men.
Catholicism remains the most widely practised religion, with 5.4 million, or a quarter of all Australians, identifying themselves as Catholic. This was an increase of 6.1 per cent since the last census. » | Susannah Moran | The Australian | Friday, June 22, 2012
