Number of Australians who are religious drop to just half the population

Almost half of the Australian population don’t hold any religious beliefs, new research has found, with Christians now a shrinking minority.

The number of Australians that described themselves as having no religion was at 26 per cent in 2003 but this has since jumped to 45 per cent this month, data from Roy Morgan found.

In a survey conducted with people aged 14 and older, it was also found that only 53 per cent of the population could identify a religion they belonged to – a drop from 73 per cent in 2003.

Almost half of the Australian population don’t hold any religious beliefs, new research has found (pictured St George Cathedral in Perth)

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said the figures show the sharp shift in attitude to religion.

‘Australia and Australians have changed in many different ways over the past two decades or so, and changes in the part religion plays in people’s lives is a prime example,’ she said.

‘There has been a drop of over 24% in those who describe themselves as Christian, from a majority of 68.1% to a minority of 44.0% over that period.’

However for those who do identify with a religion, the amount who regularly attend church or worship has ‘remained remarkably consistent’.

In 2003, 18 per cent of people said they frequented church often and in 2020 this number only dropped to 17 per cent.

Last year a teacher’s union called for the removal of scripture classes from public schools, saying they should instead be taught outside of normal school hours.

The research also showed that the percentage of those who identified as Christians had also dropped significantly

The New South Wales Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos earlier told Daily Mail Australia religious education should occur outside of school hours as it was a private matter for parents and their children.

‘School time is for teaching and learning, and special religious instruction should not be interrupting the crucial learning of students during the school day,’ Mr Gavrielatos said.

‘To do otherwise denies students valuable time necessary to ensure their educational needs can be met.’ 

A census conducted in 2016 said that a growing share of the population were of non-Christian faiths due to immigration.

The Sikh religion is one of the fastest growing groups in Australia with more than 125,000 members.