While headlines often paint a picture of religious decline in Australia, new research is highlighting a different—and surprising—story: Australians are returning to Christianity in unexpected numbers.
Social research group McCrindle has just released An Undercurrent of Faith: Exploring Australians’ renewed relationship with Christianity, a study combining analysis of Census data with a nationally representative survey of over 3,000 Australians.
The findings reveal that nearly 800,000 people who identified as having “no religion” in 2016 listed Christianity as their faith by the 2021 Census. That number jumps to 2.4 million over the past three Census periods.
96five’s Jess Drummond spoke with social researcher and founder of McCrindle, Mark McCrindle about the findings of their new report.
“Most people are aware of the headline story over the last decade has been the decline in Christianity,” Mark said.
“In fact, in 10 years from census data, it went from 61% of the population down to 44%. So that’s a pretty big drop. But amidst that, we’re seeing changes.”
One key driver of this shift is how Australians now define religion. People are less likely to claim Christianity based solely on upbringing or tradition and more likely to do so from a place of personal belief.
“Cultural Christianity is dissipating,” Mark said.
“People who tick the Christianity box are more likely ticking up because of a personal conviction rather than sort of an ancestral connection with that faith.”
Not Just Migrants, and Not Just the Elderly
The report breaks common assumptions.
While it’s often thought that migration is the major source of religious growth, the largest increase came from older Australians—those aged 55 and over. This group experienced a 48% increase in people moving from no religion to Christianity between 2016 and 2021, far outpacing their 15% population growth.
Younger generations are also navigating their spiritual journeys in nuanced ways. While Gen Z and Gen Y are less likely to identify as Christian overall, those who do are far more likely to be regular churchgoers. More than 70% of Gen Y and 68% of Gen Z Christians attend church at least monthly, compared to just 26% of Boomers.
“If you look at all of the baby boomers… only 26% of them go to church”, Mark said.
“They’re more likely to tick the box and not go to church than actually go to church. But when you get down to the youngest generation Generation Z… 68% of them go to church, so the point is at least 2/3 of young people who tick Christian in the census form follow that up by regular church attendance.”
Openness and Opportunity
The study also found that nearly half of Australians are open to spiritual conversations, especially among Gen Z and Gen Y. Religion may no longer be the taboo subject it once was.
Mark explained that churches and other ministries should be encouraged to see the number of young people who went from no religion to Christianity.
“One in six of them had had no Christian background at all… they clearly aren’t ticking the Christianity box because of the family influence.” Mark said.
“I think that highlights the fruitfulness of ministry in Australia even amongst young people”.
The data suggests that early exposure to faith can have a lasting impact, even if it takes years to bear fruit or if people drift away from their religious upbringing.
“Even if young people walk away from [faith] as they move from their teenage years into their 20-something years… that seed may be something they come back to… and reengage in the Christian faith.”
“Based on this data, there is going to be a drift away from that Christian faith if it’s not grounded in something solid in terms of belief and lifestyle”
While the decline in Christian identification is widely reported, the deeper story points to a nation still spiritually curious.
Top reasons Australians are turning to Christianity include a desire for personal meaning, connection to something greater, and answers to life’s biggest questions.
Listen to the full interview in the player above.
Feature Image: Canva Pro
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