Irreligion in Australia

Major religious affiliations in Australia by census year

Atheism, agnosticism, deism, scepticism, freethought, secular humanism or general secularism is increasing in Australia. Post-war Australia has become a highly secularised country. Religion does not play a major role in the lives of much of the population.

In the 2006 Australian census, 18.7% of Australians (or 3,706,555 people) described themselves as having "no religion." This was three percent higher than in the 2001 census, and was the largest growth in total number of any religious option in the census with 800,557 people. A further 2.4 million (11.9%) did not state a religion (or inadequately described it). So just over 30% of Australians did not state a religious affiliation in the 2006 census. According to Norris and Inglehart (2004), 25% of Australians do not believe in a god or gods.

History

Before European settlement, the Aboriginal Australians followed a spiritual system known as the Dreamtime.

European settlement in 1788 brought with it mostly Christian denominations.

Since the 1901 census, the "No Religion" percentage of the population has grown from 0.4% of the population to just over a quarter of the population. This question has been emphasised as "optional" since 1933. In 1971 a further clarification was made instructing "If no religion, write none" which saw "a seven-fold increase" in the figures from previous years for those declaring lack of religious beliefs.

Melbourne hosted the 2010 Global Atheist Convention (branded as the largest event of its kind in the world), sponsored by the Atheist Foundation of Australia and Atheist Alliance International. It took place at the Melbourne Convention Centre from 12 to 14 March 2010. Over 2,000 delegates attended, with all available tickets selling out more than five weeks prior to the event.

In 2010 The Australian Book of Atheism was published as "the first collection to explore atheism from an Australian viewpoint." The book was prompted by the disparity between Australia's increasing secularism versus the increasing political and educational influence and funding of religion in Australia, and contains essays by 33 authors (including Leslie Cannold, Robyn Williams, Tim Minchin, Graham Oppy, Philip Nitschke, Ian Hunter, Lyn Allison, Russell Blackford and Ian Robinson) on atheism-related topics in areas including history, law, education, philosophy and neurobiology.

Irreligion in politics

Sir John Latham, who in the 1930s served as Deputy Prime Minister and later as Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, was an atheist and early member of the Rationalist Society of Australia.

Australians tend to be very suspicious of religion being intertwined with politics. Critic and commentator Robert Hughes stated "Any Australian political candidate who declared God was on his side would be laughed off the podium as an idiot or a wowser (prude, intrusive bluenose)." Conversely, Australia has had many openly atheist or agnostic political figures elected to high positions, including prime ministers Gough Whitlam (whose philosophical position has been called "post-Christian"), John Curtin, John Gorton, Bob Hawke, and Australia's current Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Governor-general Bill Hayden was voted as the Australian Humanist of the Year by the Council of Australian Humanist Societies. Politicians Gareth Evans, Olive Zakharov and Lionel Murphy have also received this award.

A 2010 survey by The Sunday Age asked all 30 members of the First Rudd Ministry about their religious beliefs. Fifteen declined to comment, ten said they were "Christian" and three stated that they were atheists: Health Minister Nicola Roxon, Defence Personnel Minister Greg Combet and Financial Services Minister Chris Bowen. The remaining two, Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner and Treasurer Wayne Swan, both described themselves as agnostic Christians, with Swan believing that "values, rather than religion, are important in public life". Tanner added, "I doubt whether it would make much difference to a political career for someone to describe themselves as atheist."

Irreligion in popular culture

Many of Australia's most famous satirists and comedians have criticised religion, including Tim Minchin, who has written several songs about religion and creationism; Wil Anderson, whose 2006 stand-up comedy tour "Wil of God" dealt with intelligent design; The Chaser, who are highly popular in Australia for their irreverent, larrikin humour; John Safran, whose television show John Safran vs. God won the 2005 Australian Film Institute award for Best Comedy Series, and many more.

Polls, surveys and statistics

Although many Australians identify themselves as religious, the majority consider religion the least important aspect of their lives when compared with family, partners, work and career, leisure time and politics. This is reflected in Australia's church attendance rates, which are among the lowest in the world and in continuing decline. In explaining this phenomenon, writer and broadcaster Paul Collins said "Australians are quietly spiritual rather than explicitly religious", and famous historian Manning Clark defined Australian spirituality as "a shy hope in the heart .... understated, wary of enthusiasm, anti-authoritarian, optimistic, open to others, self-deprecating and ultimately characterized by a serious quiet reverence, a deliberate silence, an inarticulate awe and a serious distaste for glib wordiness."

Donald Horne, one of Australia's best-known public intellectuals, believed rising prosperity in post-war Australia influenced the decline in church-going and general lack of interest in religion. "Churches no longer matter very much to most Australians. If there is a happy eternal life it's for everyone ... For many Australians the pleasures of this life are sufficiently satisfying that religion offers nothing of great appeal," said Horne in his landmark work The Lucky Country.

• In a 2008 global Gallup poll, nearly 70% of Australians stated religion as having no importance, much higher than their American counterparts, and on par with similarly secular countries such as Japan, the Netherlands, Finland, and France. Only a few Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark) and post-Soviet states (Estonia) are markedly less religious.

• The Sydney Morning Herald, an Australian newspaper, asked its readers "Would the world be better off without religion?". 81% responded in the affirmative.

• A 2006 study by Monash University, the Australian Catholic University and the Christian Research Association found that 52 per cent of Australians born between 1976 and 1990 have no belief in a God.

• A 2008 Christian Science Monitor survey of 17 countries reported that youth from Australia and the United Kingdom were the least likely to observe religious practice or see any "spiritual dimension" to life.

• Secular marriages in Australia have increased. They accounted for 41.3% of marriages in 1988 but overtook religious marriages in 1999. In 2010, 69.2 per cent of marriages were celebrated by civil celebrants. This is slightly higher than the rate in England and Wales in 2009.

• A survey of 1718 Australians, conducted by the Christian Research Association at the end of 2009, found that 16 per cent attended a religious service at least once a month, compared with 23 per cent in 1993. More than 40 per cent of those brought up as Anglicans or Lutherans, 36 per cent of those brought up in the Uniting Church and 28 per cent of those brought up as Roman Catholics now described themselves as having no religion. 33 per cent of 15 – 29 year olds identified with a Christian denomination in 2009 compared with 60 per cent in 1993.

See also

• Religion in Australia
• Rationalist Society of Australia
• Secular Party of Australia
• Atheist Foundation of Australia
• Council of Australian Humanist Societies
• Australian Skeptics
• Irreligion
• Religious skepticism
• Secular humanism