By Jamie Salter
New Census data has shown a decline in religious affiliation across Cardinia Shire, with the number of Catholic and Anglican followers dropping significantly.
In 2016, Christianity was the largest religious group reported overall at 54.4 per cent.
In 2021, Secular Beliefs and Other Spiritual Beliefs and No Religious Affiliation was the largest broad religious group reported overall at 47.2 per cent.
The number of people identifying as Catholic or Anglican has declined since 2016, from 21.7 per cent to 17.7 per cent and 12.4 per cent to 7.7 per cent, respectively.
Cardinia Interfaith Network chairperson Kris Bernard said she found the shift towards No Religious Affiliation to be surprising as the shire welcomes more and more migrants.
“We’ve had a big influx of multicultural communities from different parts of the world which is lovely but it’s not reflected in the Census responses,” she said.
The decline in Catholic and Anglican following has been an ongoing trend as people’s lives get busier, Ms Bernard said.
“Churches aren’t full like they used to be – people are so busy with everything else and they might not be as interested with religion as much as their parents were,” she said.
In 2016, the most common religious affiliation was No Religion at 36.2 per cent, which has risen to 43.8 per cent in 2021.
Ms Bernard said this could be due to a lack of religions listed on the Census.
“My Bahai faith wasn’t listed so I had to choose the Other Spiritual Beliefs category, so perhaps they don’t want to identify as what is listed, or they could just not be comfortable putting down their religion,” she said.
She said Other Spiritual Beliefs was a broad category that could include a wide range of faiths.
“At Cardinia Interfaith, we try to tailor our events to attract people of all faiths,” she said.
“Through our Taste of Faith event, we invite the public to hear about all faiths and promote respect and diversity.
“It’s for people to know that there are all these wonderful faiths and it’s about seeing everyone in the community as brothers and sisters.”
Cardinia Interfaith Network is looking forward to getting back to hosting its Taste of Faith event this October after two years of Covid-19 disruptions.
“We also offer to do school tours every term where we invite schools to tour of different mosques, temples and churches,” Ms Bernard said.
