Hinduism Fastest Growing Religion in Australia
Hinduism
is the fastest growing religion in Australia. Not surprising, if recent
immigration figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) are
considered. The ABS report had found that Indians are the fastest-growing
ethnic communities in Australia. Data from the last Census of Population and Housing held in 2011 reveals
the social-cultural shift in Australian society and the growing influence of
migrant Indians and their religious beliefs on the country’s socio-cultural
environment. Interestingly, however, the 2011 Census found that more
Australians than ever are identifying themselves as having “no religious”
affiliations.
According
to data from the 2011 Census, the most commonly reported religion in Australia
remains Christianity. The number of people reporting affiliation to
Christianity has, however, actually gone down from 63.9 per cent in 2006 to
61.1 per cent in 2011. Relatively, there is an increase in the population not
reporting Christian as their faith. The figure has seen growth from 36.1 per
cent in 2006 to 38.9 per cent in 2011.
The number of people reporting
'No religion,” meanwhile saw a significantly increase from 18.7 per cent in 2006
to 22.3 per cent in 2011.
Among non-Christians faiths, the most common
religion reported in 2011 was Buddhism among 2.5 per cent of the population.
Buddhism is followed by Islam at 2.2 per cent followed by Hinduism at 1.3 per
cent.
The 2011 Census finds that Hinduism
experienced the fastest rate of growth since 2006. People subscribing to the
faith increased from 148,130 to 275,534, followed by Islam from 340,394 to
476,291 and Buddhism from 418,749 to 528,977.
Notably, migrants of all religious beliefs can
trace an Indian ancestry. Similarly migrants practicing Hinduism as a faith although
may predominantly be from India; they are not limited to India alone. About 85
per cent of Hindus now living in Australia were born overseas in countries
including Fiji, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Indonesia and Malaysia apart from
India. Interestingly, even aboriginal people
were among those who identified themselves as Hindus.
Terming it as a reflection of
Australia’s diverse cultural canvas, Andrew Henderson, Executive Director of 2011
Census had then said the: “Census data gives us a critical insight into the
diversity of the country and how it has changed over the past five years. We
see the changes in our diverse landscape in a number of topics, such as
language spoken at home, country of birth and ancestry data, in addition to
religion. Census data, including information on Australia’s diverse make-up is
vital for helping to plan a brighter future for all Australians.”
Participation is compulsory in
Australia’s census which is undertaken every five years. Response to the question of religious
affiliation, however, is an optional choice, with a sizeable 8.6 per cent of population
not having answered the question.
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