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Australia’s Catholics in 2006 – an extended profile
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Mass attenders, Catholic population and Australian population compared |
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2006 demographic characteristics for persons aged 15 and over |
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Mass
attenders |
Catholic
population |
Australian
population |
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Demographic characteristic |
(Aged 15 & over) |
(Aged 15 & over) |
(Aged 15 & over) |
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Median age (years) |
58 |
44 |
44 |
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% female |
61 |
53 |
51 |
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% degree or higher |
28 |
15 |
16 |
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% born overseas |
36 |
29 |
28 |
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% married |
68 |
51 |
50 |
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% in de facto relationship |
1 |
7 |
9 |
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% currently separated or divorced |
5 |
10 |
11 |
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% widowed |
10 |
6 |
6 |
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Number of persons |
595,264 |
4,045,626 |
15,918,082 |
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Notes: |
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Only persons aged 15 and over are included in this comparison as no demographic data is available for Mass attenders aged under 15. |
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The Catholic population includes the Mass attenders and the Australian population includes the Catholic population |
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% born overseas is for age 20+ in all three categories |
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Sources of data: National Church Life Survey 2006 and Australian Bureau of Statistics - 2006 Census of Population and Housing |
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Where Australia’s Catholics live
New South Wales is the State where Catholics made up the highest proportion of the population (28.2%), although it was only a little less (28.0%) in the ACT. Catholics made up only 18.4 per cent and 20.2 per cent of the population in Tasmania and South Australia respectively.
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Catholics by State and Territory |
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State / Territory |
Catholics |
Total
Persons |
Per cent Catholic |
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New South Wales |
1,845,360 |
6,549,527 |
28.2 |
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ACT |
90,855 |
324,130 |
28.0 |
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Victoria |
1,355,916 |
4,932,556 |
27.5 |
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Queensland |
936,595 |
3,904,373 |
24.0 |
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South Australia |
305,189 |
1,514,265 |
20.2 |
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Western Australia |
464,357 |
1,961,062 |
23.7 |
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Tasmania |
87,802 |
476,464 |
18.4 |
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Northern Territory |
40,810 |
192,911 |
21.2 |
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Australia |
5,126,884 |
19,855,288 |
25.8 |
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Source of data: Australian Bureau of Statistics - 2006 Census of Population and Housing |
The biggest and smallest parishes in Australia
The largest parishes in the country were Burleigh Heads, in Queensland, with over 28,000 Catholics, Narre Warren in Victoria, and Maroochydore, also in Queensland. Twenty-three parishes had Catholic populations in excess of 14,000. On the other hand, twenty-one parishes had fewer than 250 Catholics; Campbell Town in Tasmania was the smallest, with only 84 Catholics.
Australia's largest parishes |
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23 parishes with more than 14,000 Catholics |
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Parish |
Diocese |
Catholics |
Total
Persons |
Per cent Catholic |
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Burleigh Heads |
Brisbane |
28,061 |
116,636 |
24.1 |
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Narre Warren |
Sale |
20,054 |
67,082 |
29.9 |
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Maroochydore |
Brisbane |
19,312 |
92,512 |
20.9 |
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Camden |
Wollongong |
17,939 |
51,546 |
34.8 |
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Caloundra |
Brisbane |
17,566 |
87,984 |
20.0 |
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South Tuggeranong |
Canberra & Goulburn |
17,224 |
53,969 |
31.9 |
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Salisbury |
Adelaide |
17,213 |
79,640 |
21.6 |
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St Albans |
Melbourne |
17,018 |
38,800 |
43.9 |
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Surfers Paradise |
Brisbane |
16,967 |
71,009 |
23.9 |
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Southport |
Brisbane |
16,946 |
74,383 |
22.8 |
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Caboolture |
Brisbane |
16,042 |
78,573 |
20.4 |
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Werribee |
Melbourne |
15,705 |
44,804 |
35.1 |
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Gladstone Park |
Melbourne |
15,388 |
31,785 |
48.4 |
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Bonnyrigg |
Sydney |
15,127 |
35,777 |
42.3 |
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Mill Park |
Melbourne |
14,971 |
39,499 |
37.9 |
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Laverton |
Melbourne |
14,955 |
43,459 |
34.4 |
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Croydon |
Melbourne |
14,805 |
68,520 |
21.6 |
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Nowra |
Wollongong |
14,699 |
66,063 |
22.2 |
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Craigieburn |
Melbourne |
14,652 |
39,040 |
37.5 |
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Browns Plains |
Brisbane |
14,501 |
68,355 |
21.2 |
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Castle Hill |
Parramatta |
14,183 |
45,364 |
31.3 |
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Keilor Downs - Kealba |
Melbourne |
14,081 |
31,057 |
45.3 |
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Bundaberg |
Rockhampton |
14,025 |
72,202 |
19.4 |
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Source of data: Australian Bureau of Statistics - 2006 Census of Population and Housing |
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Australia's smallest parishes |
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21 parishes with fewer than 250 Catholics |
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Parish |
Diocese |
Catholics |
Total
Persons |
Per cent Catholic |
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Campbell Town |
Hobart |
84 |
743 |
11.3 |
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Jugiong |
Canberra & Goulburn |
108 |
406 |
26.6 |
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Flinders Island |
Hobart |
119 |
866 |
13.7 |
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Quairading |
Perth |
167 |
1,019 |
16.4 |
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Wandoan |
Towoomba |
174 |
919 |
18.9 |
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Jabiru |
Darwin |
175 |
1,134 |
15.4 |
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Corrigin |
Perth |
186 |
1,145 |
16.2 |
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Ungarie |
Canberra & Goulburn |
193 |
716 |
27.0 |
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Aramac |
Rockhampton |
199 |
721 |
27.6 |
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Weethalle |
Canberra & Goulburn |
205 |
898 |
22.8 |
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Surat |
Towoomba |
206 |
756 |
27.2 |
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Mallee Border |
Adelaide |
219 |
2,131 |
10.3 |
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Norseman |
Perth |
223 |
1,073 |
20.8 |
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Finch Hatton |
Rockhampton |
227 |
851 |
26.7 |
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Texas |
Towoomba |
235 |
1,126 |
20.9 |
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New Norcia |
Perth |
237 |
1,065 |
22.3 |
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Richmond |
Townsville |
238 |
901 |
26.4 |
Parish |
Diocese |
Catholics |
Total
Persons |
Per cent Catholic |
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Minnipa |
Port Pirie |
239 |
1,311 |
18.2 |
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Barellan |
Canberra & Goulburn |
244 |
731 |
33.4 |
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Bribbaree |
Canberra & Goulburn |
244 |
860 |
28.4 |
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Alpha |
Rockhampton |
249 |
919 |
27.1 |
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Source of data: Australian Bureau of Statistics - 2006 Census of Population and Housing |
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Where Australia’s Catholics come from
The major overseas birthplaces of Catholics in the 2006 Census were, in order, Italy, Great Britain, the Philippines, New Zealand, Croatia and other Former Yugoslavia, Ireland (including Northern Ireland), Malta, Poland, Vietnam and India. Almost 100,000 Catholics arrived in Australia from overseas between 2003 and 2006, the greatest numbers coming from the Philippines, Great Britain, the Middle East and North Africa, New Zealand, Central and South America, and India.
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Major birthplaces of Australian Catholics |
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Birthplace |
Catholics |
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Individual countries |
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Australia |
3,829,531 |
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Italy |
184,240 |
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Great Britain |
125,921 |
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Philippines |
96,572 |
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New Zealand |
59,622 |
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Croatia and other Former Yugoslavia |
46,317 |
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Ireland (Including Northern Ireland) |
41,662 |
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Malta |
40,402 |
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Poland |
39,484 |
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Viet Nam |
35,402 |
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India |
34,501 |
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Germany |
31,029 |
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Lebanon |
29,197 |
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Netherlands |
26,610 |
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Sri Lanka |
16,767 |
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South Africa |
16,039 |
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Chile |
15,495 |
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Indonesia |
14,513 |
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Malaysia |
14,487 |
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Mauritius |
14,090 |
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Korea, Republic of (South) |
12,789 |
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Iraq |
12,234 |
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Hungary |
11,335 |
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Hong Kong |
11,314 |
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Austria |
10,510 |
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Other regions |
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European countries (excluding those listed above) |
73,686 |
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South and Central America (excluding Chile) |
40,101 |
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Middle East and North Africa (except Lebanon and Iraq) |
24,634 |
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Oceania (except Australia and New Zealand) |
20,274 |
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South-East Asia (except Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia) |
21,076 |
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North America |
19,396 |
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Birthplaces with more than 10,000 Catholics |
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Source of data: Australian Bureau of Statistics - 2006 Census of Population and Housing |
What languages do Australia’s Catholics speak at home?
Italian, with over 287,000 speakers, remains by far the most common language other than English spoken at home by Catholics, followed by Filipino languages, Arabic, Spanish, Croatian, Vietnamese, Polish and Chinese languages. Catholics most likely to say that they did not speak English well were those who spoke Korean, Vietnamese, Assyrian (the language of Chaldean Catholics) or Portuguese at home. About 8,300 Catholics spoke an Australian Indigenous language at home.
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Major languages spoken at home by Australia’s Catholics |
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Language |
Catholics |
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Italian |
287,233 |
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Filipino languages |
77,348 |
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Arabic |
70,100 |
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Spanish |
66,234 |
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Croatian |
57,797 |
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Vietnamese |
55,701 |
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Polish |
44,615 |
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Chinese languages |
42,859 |
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Maltese |
35,085 |
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French |
23,398 |
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German |
22,583 |
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Portuguese |
21,121 |
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Indonesian-Malay languages |
13,423 |
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Korean |
13,421 |
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Hungarian |
13,412 |
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Assyrian |
12,459 |
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Dutch |
12,044 |
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Oceanic & Papuan languages |
12,014 |
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Languages spoken at home by more than 12,000 Catholics |
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Source of data: Australian Bureau of Statistics - 2006 Census of Population and Housing. |
The figures from the Australian Census describe the population that identifies itself as Catholic in the Census.
Watch out for regular updates to this profile over the next few months.
The ACBC Pastoral Projects Office is now engaged in the production of comprehensive census reports for every parish in Australia. These will be sent to parishes a little later in the year.
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