‘No religion’ is our leading religion. OMG About Time

DESPITE a scare campaign about Australia becoming a “Muslim country”, those ticking “no religion” in the Census has now overtaken the number of Catholics.

It’s the first time in Australia’s history the number of people who claim “no religion” has overtaken Catholics.

The latest Census drop showed those ticking “no religion” rose from 22.6 per cent to 29.6 per cent — nearly double the 16 per cent in 2001.

Meanwhile, those identifying as Catholic dropped from 25.3 per cent to 22.6 per cent.

The number of Christians in total still made up 52 per cent of the population, but this is much less than the 88 per cent in 1966 and 74 per cent in 1991.

Islam (2.6 per cent) and Buddhism (2.4 per cent) were the next most common religions reported.

Islam grew from 2.2 per cent in 2011, while Buddhism dropped from 2.5 per cent.

The religion question was controversial this year, with Australians warned not to mark “no religion” on the Census survey by those afraid the nation would become a “Muslim country”.

An email was circulated that asked Australians to avoid the “no religion” option as this would give prominence to Muslims.

Source: Census 2016 results Australia: ‘No religion’ is our leading religion