Australia is a secular country, with a high degree of religious freedom and religious diversity. The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Australia and Greater Capital Cities were: A larger percentage who nominated Anglican (13.3% compared to 11.0%) The governor of the time gave the responsibility of public health and education to a cleric of the Church of England. The second biggest group of religious identity are Atheists and Agnostics who make up 22.3% of the population. Sikhism was founded in the Punjab region by Guru Nanak (1469-1939), who was succeeded by nine gurus (teachers) over the span of nearly 240 years. There is not a common public religious rhetoric (such as God bless America or God save the Queen) that correlates Australian national identity with Christianity. You can find a direct link to all these sources under the References n the 2016 Census, Christian religion affiliations were reported by 52% of the population. Approximately 91,000 people identified as religiously Jewish in the 2016 census (0.4% of the population). Women reporting no religion were more likely to have lesser children than women reporting a religion. Other major religions represented in Australia today include Buddhism (2% of the population), Islam (3%), Hinduism (2%) and Judaism (less than 1%). Please provide your email to receive your eBook download and receipt. Other religions are also continuing to increase. The largest single religion in Australia was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 22.3% of the population or 5,229,667 people as adherents. Despite long journeys and the harsh conditions of the Australian outback, the Muslim cameleers were able to maintain their religious practices. These interactions influence how religion is perceived and understood within society, particularly around matters of concern to religion. and Population Census. Australia has a form of secularism where religion is allowed in the public sphere. Christian denominations were once historically correlated with ones ethnicity in Australia. The Hindu community grew significantly during the 1970s. In particular, the Catholic Church was often associated with the Irish population while Protestant denominations (mainly the Anglican Church and Presbyterian Church) were associated with the British. Many Sikhs arrived as cameleers in the 1860s, referred to as Afghans at the time. During this time, ones religious and ethnic identification played a major role in determining ones education and opportunities in life. Australias contemporary Muslim population reflects its diverse linguistic and ethnic migrant history. Almost 30% of Australians reported having no religion. Today, most Australian Christians are affiliated with either the Catholic Church (22.6%) or the Anglican Church (13.3%). Christians in Australia now hover around 50%, down from 88% in 1966. (indicating when these statistics were last updated). 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