Greetings to the Koonung Heights Community
I received notification of the 2026 Australian Census during the week. My wife and I have yet to have the conversation as to who will be appointed head of the household and fill it in.
Being a minister, I will be interested to see the trends in religion when the results are released. According to the ABS Religious Affiliation Data, at the last census the ‘No Religion’ category grew to 38.9% of the population, making it the largest single group alongside Christianity. In contrast, Christianity has declined steadily, dropping to 43.9% of the population.
While Christianity and secularism dominate, Australia is becoming more religiously diverse due to immigration. Minority religions, particularly Islam and Hinduism, have seen significant growth, representing 3.2% and 2.7% of the population respectively. This highlights a shifting social and cultural landscape
Compared to the rest of the nation, Victoria has a slightly lower percentage of Christians (40.9% vs 43.9% nationally) and a higher concentration of non-Christian faiths (13.1% vs 10% nationally) due to diverse migration patterns.
And coming closer to home the Uniting Church will probably see its decline in numbers continue. Between 2016 and the 2021 Census, UCA affiliation dropped by roughly 22.6%, with fewer than 700,000 Australians now identifying with the church.
Earlier this year I attended a function for the 40th anniversary of my ordination. It has been challenging times to be a minister. While our year group pleaded innocence for the decline it is true that in the mid-1980s, the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) had an estimated 1.18 million members. That is down to around a quarter of a million currently.
The church is taking measures to address the situation we find ourselves in this time in history (and it is certainly not just a numbers game) and we can all get behind the Act2 project and similar initiatives.
All the best
Ray