Chara Scroope
June 13, 2025
Contents
There’s no denying that religion plays an important role in the lives of people worldwide, both ancient and modern. Today, more than 80% of the world’s population identifies with a religious group. Though religion may be less obvious to the public eye in Australia than in other countries, it still has much importance. In this article, we give you a brief overview of religion in Australia, and why understanding religion matters for your business.
Australia is a secular country, with a high degree of religious freedom and religious diversity. Indeed, Australia does not have a strong public religious rhetoric in politics. This is different from other English-speaking countries, like the United Kingdom or America, where Christianity is often strongly linked to the national identity (such as in sayings like ‘God save the Queen’ or ‘God bless America’). The principle of religious freedom is enshrined in section 116 of the Australian Constitution.
In terms of legislation, all states and territories except New South Wales and South Australia currently prohibit discrimination on the basis of a person’s religion. However, the situation is a bit more complicated on the federal level. Generally speaking, discrimination on the basis of religion alone is not unlawful under current federal anti-discrimination law.
There are some cases where people’s religious affiliations may be protected by the definition of ‘ethnic origin’ in the Racial Discrimination Act (1975), such as for Jewish and Sikh people whose affiliation is considered ethno-religious. However, there are other religious groups that do not constitute a single ethnic origin, such as Muslims and Christians. These groups are not protected by the Racial Discrimination Act.
Although religious groups are maintained as separate entities from the state, religious institutions continue to play a large role in Australian society. For example, many primary and secondary schools, hospitals, aged-care facilities and charity organisations are owned and funded by religious organisations.
The 2021 census recorded over 100 different religious affiliations. Indeed, Australia remains a predominantly religious country. Just over half of Australians (approximately 52.1%) identified as Christian, making Christianity the largest affiliated religion. However, the term ‘Christian’ refers to a diverse group of people affiliated with a variety of churches and denominations in Australia. The largest Christian denominations identified in the census were the Catholic Church (20.0%) and the Anglican Church (9.8%).
Historically, there has always been a degree of religious diversity in Australia. However, it wasn’t until the abolition of the White Australia Policy in the 1970s that non-European communities were able to significantly establish themselves and grow in numbers. Since then, the country has seen a growing diversity of non-Christian religions, now numbering over 1.9 million people.
Of the population who identified with a religion other than Christianity, Islam (3.2%) and Hinduism (2.7%) are were the largest, followed by Buddhism (including Theravada and Mahayana traditions) (2.4%), Sikhism (0.8%) and Judaism (0.4%).
Christianity has been the most dominant religion in Australia since its introduction by British settlers during colonisation. Nonetheless, there has been a considerable decline over the last few decades, from 74% in 1991 to 52% in 2021. Today, some of the fastest-growing religions in Australia are Islam and Hinduism, in part due to migration. The religion with the highest proportional growth since the 2016 census was Yezidi.
However, Australians are also becoming less religiously affiliated. The category of ‘no religion’ is currently the fastest-growing religious affiliation in the census, increasing to 38.9% in 2021 from 22.3% in 2011. This census category includes a number of identities, such as atheist, agnostic and other spiritual beliefs. The choice of having no religious affiliation was most common among young Australians between the ages of 18 and 34.
Australians are a diverse bunch when it comes to beliefs and worldviews. In the past, common advice suggested that religion should never be discussed in the workplace. However, religion is often an important part of a person’s identity, their views about the world and the way they express and present themselves. With ongoing migration flows and constant social changes, religion will continue to remain an important part of the way people interact with one another.
Workplaces that approach religious diversity in an accommodating manner are more likely to have higher retention and loyalty of staff. Companies responsive to religious diversity are also better able to prevent religious discrimination and harassment in the workplace, thus minimising legal exposure and risks.
Organisations and employers equipped with practical and thorough information on religious diversity will be able to accommodate and adapt to religious diversity at work. Subscribe to Mosaica Essentials to access detailed information on Australia’s rich religious communities, it's free.