It’s Census time

How to answer the religion question

It’s Census time again in Australia. On Tuesday 11th August, every Australian home will sit down and fill out the National Census form, detailing all kinds of personal information about who we are. From which footy club we support to our favourite foods and preferred coffee, all our answers will be compiled and analysed and present the world with a picture of Australia 2026. Ok, some of those questions may not actually be in the Census!

Every 5 years we fill out the Census, and every 5 years the 2 most contentious questions ask us about sex and about religion. I’m going to leave aside the question about sex and gender, and focus on religion.

Are we becoming more Christian, or less? Is the cause of a-theism winning the day across our sunburnt plains? Will we see a resurgence toward religion?

When it comes to asking this question, my number no.1 tip is this, be honest.

Are you Baptist? Are you Anglican? Are you Buddhist? Do you not believe in God?

It is a little unfortunate that there’s a box for Christian as well as boxes for the larger Christian denominations. For me, I usually tick ‘Baptist’ (because I belong to a baptist church and theologically, I’m baptist). But I am also a Christian and I am certainly Christian before I’m baptist. So that division isn’t particularly helpful for me, but gauging the denominational affiliation is a useful exercise.

My friend Stephen Mcalpine uncovered one glarring omission yesterday. Where are the Jews? Apparently, Judaism has disappeared from the Census. Stephen noted, ‘Wow, it is true - Judaism doesn’t get a guernsey on the census this year. You’d think after the past three years - and Bondi - in particular. But hey. Baptists and Uniting Church get their own special category alongside Catholics. Christian is another category altogether, so make up your mind. But no Judaism? Twist the knife.’

Surely not!*

That omission aside, there are two major shortcomings with the Census approach to religion, and we need to recognise these when the numbers are finally crunched.

First of all, the question doesn’t distinguish between the practicing and the nominal. Of course, some religions don’t make such distinctions either, for to be born Hindu or Muslim is to be Hindu or Muslim, but this isn’t the case with Christianity and some other religions. The census may helpfully indicate what number of Australians identify with a particular religion (or none), but it doesn’t inform us about what numbers actually belong to and live out any particular religion. For example, while 43.9% of Australians identified as Christian in the 2021 Census, only a fraction are active members of a Christian Church. Both statistics are helpful for understanding Australian society, but they are not identical.

Second, the category of ‘no religion’ is misleading as it’s often misappropriated to signify non belief in God; athisem is but a sub category of ‘no religion’, not the totality. Aussies tend to view religion as a private affair and so even if they believe in God and attend a church on occaion they may tick the ‘no religion’ box. Then there’s common saying, ‘I’m spiritual not religious’. Aussies who like to see themselves in this way are not arguing for atheism but are rejecting mainstream religion or not wanting to be labelled by one belief system or another.

I noticed the ‘no religion’ brigade are campaigning again, as though the future of our nation depends on it. Their website (yes, they have a website) contends that, ‘it matters. Census data shapes how billions in public funding are allocated, how much influence religion holds in policy, and whose values get amplified in public life.’

Yep, they’re hoping that by reducing the number of religious Australians they will eventually remove religion from the public square and every other square across the country. There is of course a certain myopia in their God-free country - who is responsible for the vast majority of charities and hospitals and so many education institutions? Where do millions of Aussies eventually turn to find intellectual, social, and spiritual satisfaction and meaning? Whether you like God or not, it is belief in God and all that this entails for signifying human and material value, that produces the breadth of help and care provided by Christian institutions (yes, it is overwhelming Christian). The reality is, Governments and public funding would be overwhelmed by societies issues if it were not for these God believers and the schools and aged care homes and churches they have created. It’s one reason why local councils are already hamstringing their futures when they make it harder for churches to buy land and build.

If we want to be downright true to history for a moment, imagining there’s no heaven or hell, hasn’t worked so well in the past. ‘Nothing to kill or die for and no religion, too’ gave us the likes of Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong and the bloodiest century in history. Let me repeat, with the religion question, just be honest. If it’s ‘no religion’, then tick the box, and as you do, it’s worthwhile thinking through what this entails.

In terms of actual numbers, I wouldn’t be surprised if the number of people marking ‘no religion’ has increased since 2021. As we know, 2021 marked the largest increase in ‘no religion’ on record, 38.9%, up from 30.1% in 2016. For the first time, Christianity dropped under 50% of the population, with 43.9% of Australians identifying as Christian. There are all kinds of reasons for this drop, and let’s be honest, the track record of some Christian institutions gives people reason for not wanting to have religion. And yet ‘no God’ isn’t producing what it promises.

There is a counter trend at work in our cities and towns, partly due to immigration but also as younger Aussies turn away from the hopeless vision of a world without God. Whether the change will be noticed in this new Census remains to be seen, bur I won’t be surprised to see the dial eventually turning in tangible ways over the next 20 years. For no matter how hard we try to suppress belief in God and created a society without Him, reality has a way of convincing us otherwise. AS the book of Ecclesiastes tells us, ‘He has also set eternity in the human heart’.

So as 28 million Aussies sit down to answer the Census questions, be honest, and don’t be surprised to discover that by 2031 or 2036 your mind has been changed!

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*it seems as though Judaism drops off the list of religions by the ABS as Judaism is no longer considered one of Australia’s top 10 most adhered to religions. See the below options. Given the current climate it is unfortunate that the ABS has taken this step in our national census. Australian Jews already feel the presence of not being wanted, and this situation hardly meleates the situation. Also, one understands that every list needs a limit, and so to my Jewish friends, please make sure you click other and specify.

Also, since writing, I've been informed that 'Christian' doesn't appear as one of 10 options, but a number of Christian denominations do appear. If you prefer to be counted as a Christian and not with a particular denomination, but use of the 'other' box and specifiy