Do you think you know how religious Australians are? (All answers based on census data taken from the Australian Bureau of Statistics)

On the 2016 census 604,200 Australians answered that they were Muslims. The next closest to this figure was Buddhism, with 563,700, followed by Hinduism with 440,300, Sikhism with 125,900 and lastly the Jews, with 91,000 (112,500 if you check the CIA Factbook).

It is worth noting that census results are just a box which someone ticks on a piece of paper. A certain amount of change in numbers census to census can easily be explained by the non-devout followers of a certain faith alternating between 'no-religion' and whatever it is which they feel some kind of association with. The census makes no distinction between the devout and the lackadaisical.

Catholicism is the largest denomination of Christianity in Australia and according to census data has been since 1986, when it overtook Anglicanism. An interesting fact to note is that since then the number of Australians reporting themselves as Catholics has increased significantly (4 to 5.2 million, over 25% growth in 30 years) while the number of Anglicans has been declining almost every census (3.7 million in 1986, 3.1 in 2016). The number of Orthodox Christians has been growing steadily census by census over the years (582,800 by 2016) while the Uniting Church appears to be going through a similar phase of decline to the Anglican church (870,200 reported in 2016, down from 1,182,300 in 1986).

In the 2011 census 65,000 Australians claimed to be Jedi. This was the last census to record this result. In 2016 all Jedi were placed in the category 'Not Stated/Inadequately Described', making their true numbers today a mystery.

In 2016 7,040,700 Australians answered 'no religion' in response to being asked for their religious affiliation. Not only does this make it the most common response to the question, but also the fastest growing. In 2006 18.7% of Australians answered 'no religion', the same number answered 'Anglican' while 25.8% answered 'Catholic'. Since then 'no religion' obviously increased significantly (11.4% growth) while 'Anglican' and 'Catholic' declined by a combined share of 8.6% (5.4% and 3.2% respectively), a significant number of these lost responders likely started answering to 'no religion' instead.

Australia has one saint. Mary Helen MacKillop (1842-1909), declared as Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop 2010. She was known for her work in founding The Josephites, a congregation of religious sisters who founded several schools throughout Australia and beyond, in addition to providing other aid.

Approximately 60,000 Australian jews are thought to reside in Melbourne. According the CIA World Factbook Australia has the 8th highest Jewish population by proportion in the world.

Do you think you know how religious Australians are? (All answers based on census data taken from the Australian Bureau of Statistics)

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