Religion explained Place Forecast Feature

Abbreviated as RELP; referenced by

Religion shows the religious affiliation of people in an area, including people with no religion. It sorts them into thirty groups from the ABS Census table. The groups are based on the Australian Standard Classification of Religious Groups (ASCRG).

These figures are Place Forecast estimates based on Census data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The religion question on the Census is voluntary. Not stated holds people who did not answer. It also holds answers the ABS could not place in a group. No religion is a different group. It means the person said they have no religion.

The list follows ABS rules, not how a person or group might describe their own beliefs. Some group names show how the ABS sorts answers. For example, Christianity: not further defined holds people who wrote "Christian" and named no church.

Religious affiliation does not show how often people practise their faith. Nor does it show how much it means to them.

The ABS puts Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions in Other religions. This reflects an ABS list choice, not the standing of these traditions in Australian life. Religious affiliation is separate from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status. An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person may name any religion, or none. For the count of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, see the First Nations marker.

All other categories holds people whose religion is not shown on its own.

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 usually smaller than the area's ERP-based total. It is an unadjusted Census count, not ERP.

Reading this data fairly

These figures show how people answered Census questions. Here are the equity caveats to keep in mind. They keep the numbers fair:

  • Religious affiliation is one of the Census topics used in CALD analysis. On its own it is not a measure of need.
  • Read the Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions row in line with Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles. The right to say what it means sits with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

See the marker methodology for how these figures are calculated and their limitations.

Sources

Related data pages
Readable