Abbreviated as RELP; referenced by 2 other explainers
Religion shows the religious affiliation of people in an area. It sorts them into thirty groups under the ABS Religious Affiliation Standard Classification (ARASC).
The figures come from Census data. The Australian Bureau of Statistics collects them.
ABS publishes a separate Not stated count for religious affiliation, so this marker shows a Not stated row next to the other religion groups.
The religion question on the Census is voluntary. About one in twelve people across the country leave it blank or mark Not stated. The share can be much higher in some areas and some groups. So the total here does not always match the full population at usual residence.
The list follows ABS rules, not how a person or group might describe their own beliefs. Some groups have spoken about how religion data is used in planning, which can lift the Not stated share in some areas. For planning in religiously diverse places, treat the figures as one input among several. Talk to community-led groups where the data shapes services.
Where the Census answer was "Christian" with no further detail, ABS codes it as Christianity: not further defined. The "other" and "inadequately described" branches are about how ABS sorts write-in answers, not a view about the person's faith.
ABS sets Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions under "Other religions". This reflects an ABS list choice, not the standing of these ways in Australian life. Whether a person is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is a separate Census variable. See the First Nations marker for that count. The two are not the same. A person can say they are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and mark any religion, or none.
The total counts people at their usual place of residence. It covers people in non-private homes such as hospitals, aged-care homes, hostels, and student housing. It does not count overseas visitors.
The total here is smaller than the area's ERP-based total. This is a raw Census count. The population pages use ABS Estimated Resident Population (ERP). The religion question is voluntary, so the total here is lower than it would be if every person answered.
Place Forecast stores religion at the mesh block level. The ABS Census shows it at SA1. We split each SA1 across its mesh blocks by the share of ERP. Then we add the mesh blocks back up to the area you see. So the figures for very small areas are an estimate, not a direct ABS count.
Each religion group at the LGA level matches the ABS figure. See LGA anchoring for how this works, the small gap between the marker total and the ABS LGA total, and how very small groups are handled.