Eltham - Central
Religion
In Eltham - Central in 2016, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (21.7% of all people), while 43.0% of people had no religion and 7.7% did not answer the question on religion.
Eltham - Central's religion statistics provide an indicator of cultural identity and ethnicity when observed in conjunction with other key variables. Religion data reveal the major concentrations of religions as well as revealing the proportion of people with no religious affiliation. There are a number of reasons for different religious compositions across areas including the country of birth and ethnic background of the population, the age of the population (belief in religion is generally stronger, the older the population) and changes in values and belief systems.
Eltham - Central's religion statistics should be analysed in conjunction with other ethnicity statistics such as Country of Birth data and Language Spoken data to assist in identifying specific cultural and ethnic groups.
Please note: Due to changes in ABS rules around perturbation and additivity of data to protect the confidentiality of individuals, counts of individual religion groups and totals derived from them may differ slightly from those published by the ABS.
Derived from the Census question:
'What is the person's religion?'
Total population
| Religion - Summary | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eltham - Central - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | City of Melton % | Number | % | City of Melton % | 2011 to 2016 | |
 Christian total | 3,687 | 45.5 | 56.8 | 35500 | 4,196 | 53.9 | 64.2 | -508 |
| Non Christian total | 229 | 2.8 | 11.6 | 35501 | 235 | 3.0 | 9.7 | -6 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 81 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 35502 | 75 | 1.0 | 0.7 | +6 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 3,487 | 43.0 | 22.1 | 35503 | 2,623 | 33.7 | 17.1 | +865 |
| Not stated | 626 | 7.7 | 9.0 | 35504 | 647 | 8.3 | 8.3 | -21 |
| Total Population | 8,113 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 7,778 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +335 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2011 and 2016. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
(Usual residence data)
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eltham - Central - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | City of Melton % | Number | % | City of Melton % | 2011 to 2016 | |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 1,751 | 21.7 | 32.7 | 35044 | 1,871 | 24.1 | 36.7 | -120 |
| Anglican | 895 | 11.1 | 6.5 | 35000 | 1,060 | 13.6 | 9.2 | -165 |
| Uniting Church | 212 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 35043 | 290 | 3.7 | 2.7 | -77 |
| Christian,nfd | 153 | 1.9 | 3.7 | 35011 | 149 | 1.9 | 1.9 | +4 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 149 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 35036 | 220 | 2.8 | 1.6 | -71 |
| Greek Orthodox | 142 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 35015 | 141 | 1.8 | 3.0 | +1 |
| Baptist | 130 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 35006 | 184 | 2.4 | 1.1 | -54 |
| Buddhism | 66 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 35008 | 100 | 1.3 | 2.8 | -34 |
| Islam | 45 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 35017 | 61 | 0.8 | 3.8 | -16 |
| Pentecostal | 44 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 35033 | 31 | 0.4 | 1.2 | +13 |
| Lutheran | 42 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 35021 | 74 | 1.0 | 0.5 | -32 |
| Hinduism | 23 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 35016 | 15 | 0.2 | 1.9 | +8 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 23 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 35039 | 20 | 0.3 | 0.4 | +3 |
| Macedonian Orthodox | 20 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 35022 | 38 | 0.5 | 1.4 | -18 |
| Other Protestant | 18 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 35034 | 10 | 0.1 | 0.4 | +9 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 15 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 35018 | 10 | 0.1 | 0.6 | +5 |
| Sikhism | 11 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 35041 | 11 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0 |
| Judaism | 10 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35019 | 8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +1 |
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2011 and 2016. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
Excludes religions with fewer than 10 adherents.
Compiled and presented in profile.id by .id (informed decisions).
Compiled and presented in profile.id by .id (informed decisions).
Dominant groups
Analysis of the religious affiliation of the population of Eltham - Central in 2016 compared to City of Melton shows that there was a lower proportion of people who professed a religion and a higher proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 48.3% of the population nominated a religion, and 43.0% said they had no religion, compared with 68.4% and 22.1% respectively for City of Melton.
The largest single religion in Eltham - Central was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 21.7% of the population or 1,751 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Eltham - Central and City of Melton were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Anglican (11.1% compared to 6.5%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (21.7% compared to 32.7%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Islam (0.6% compared to 4.0%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Hinduism (0.3% compared to 2.7%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Eltham - Central between 2011 and 2016 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-165 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-120 persons)
- Uniting Church (-77 persons)
- Presbyterian and Reformed (-71 persons)