Losing our religion? Australia would no longer be majority religious if format of census question changed, survey finds
A new survey suggests that Australia's religious population is significantly lower than official census data indicates. Researchers found that changing the census question format to a simple 'yes/no' query results in a majority of respondents identifying as having no religion.
Why it matters
Census data is critical for government policy and funding; if current methods overstate religious affiliation, it could lead to misallocation of public resources.
Ahead of the 2026 Australian census, a new survey has found more than half of people (54%) selected ‘no’ when asked ‘do you have a religion?’ Ahead of the 2026 Australian census, a new survey has found more than half of people (54%) selected ‘no’ when asked ‘do you have a religion?’ Religion Losing our religion? Australia would no longer be majority religious if format of census question changed, survey finds Ahead of the census in August, campaign group suggests current poll design overstates the nation’s religiousness
Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast
Prefer the Guardian on Google Australia would no longer be a majority religious country if the format of a question in the census was changed, according to a new survey.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in