Australians are losing their religion, the headlines tell us, but digging deeper into the 2016 census tells a more complex story about how closely faith and geography are linked in modern Australia.

More non-believers live in the inner city

The census shows that for the first time, Australians who have 'no religion' outnumber believers in any single religion.

Non-believers have grown by 10 per cent in the past decade, with Christians falling by about the same proportion.

But 14.1 million people still identify with a particular religion — that's 60 per cent of the population.

The number of people with no religion is highest in the inner regions of Australia's capital cities.

Take Brisbane for example. When you map the city by the most common religion in each suburb, the inner city sticks out; 'no religion' is the most common census response in inner areas, which are surrounded by a sea of suburbia where Christianity is more common.

A map of Brisbane shows suburbs by the most common religion in each. The inner city is home to the most people with 'no religion'.

For example, in the trendy suburb of West End in inner-city Brisbane, 44 per cent of people say they have no religion.

For example, in the trendy suburb of West End in inner-city Brisbane, 44 per cent of people say they have no religion. But just 20 minutes drive away in Hendra, that proportion halves to 22 per cent.

The same is true in the inner-city areas of Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart and Adelaide.

In Clifton Hill in Melbourne's inner north, 55 per cent of the population has no religion. Fifteen minutes away across the Yarra in Bulleen, the proportion of non-believers halves to 24 per cent.

In Clifton Hill in Melbourne's inner north, 55 per cent of the population has no religion. Fifteen minutes away across the Yarra in Bulleen, the proportion of non-believers halves to 24 per cent. In South Hobart, 53 per cent have no religion, compared with only 33 per cent 20 minutes away in Glenorchy.

In South Hobart, 53 per cent have no religion, compared with only 33 per cent 20 minutes away in Glenorchy. In the foothills of the Adelaide Hills, a quarter of the population of Springfield has no religion, compared with more than double that number just a 20-minute drive up to Crafers West in the hills.

Age is a big factor in that geographic divide

Glenn Capuano, a demographer with ID The Population Experts, says some of this trend is age related: more young people are more non-religious, and lots of young people live in inner-city areas.

More than one-third of 25 to 34-year-olds say they have no religion, compared with just 19 per cent of 65 to 74-year-olds.

'Tree-change' and 'sea-change' areas also attract non-believers

Some regional areas also have a high proportion of people with no religion, but these regions typically have something in common.

They are known either as 'tree-change' or 'sea-change' locations where people choose to live when they leave cities, or are known to attract people interested in alternative lifestyles.

In Victoria, these regions include the Dandenong Ranges around Belgrave and Emerald in Melbourne's east, the sea-changers along the Great Ocean Road, and the alternative lifestyles in the Goldfields region of Central Victoria, centred on Castlemaine and Daylesford.

These join Melbourne's inner-city suburbs as non-believer hotspots.

A map of Melbourne shows suburbs by the most common religion in each. The inner city is home to the most people with 'no religion'.

Other regional centres with high proportions of people with no religion include:

the area around Byron Bay on the NSW north coast;

the area around Byron Bay on the NSW north coast; the Adelaide Hills; and

the Adelaide Hills; and the south coast of Western Australia around Denmark, which Mr Capuano calls the "Byron Bay of WA".

Non-Christians are drawn to Sydney and Melbourne

In Sydney, Islam is the dominant faith in the suburbs around Lakemba and Auburn in the west, while the majority of the population in the suburbs around Parramatta are Hindu, and Buddhists live in Cabramatta and surrounding suburbs.

These religious clusters reflect the dominant migrant groups in those areas, including Lebanese, Indian and Vietnamese people.

A map of Sydney shows suburbs by the most common religion in each. The inner city is home to the most people with 'no religion'.

Liz Allen, a demographer at the ANU Centre for Social Research Methods, says Sydney and Melbourne are the biggest target destinations for new migrants, whereas other capital cities like Adelaide and Perth have historical population flows from the UK and Europe.

This means their populations are not only older but more likely to be from Christian countries.

Sydney is actually a religious hotspot

Mr Capuano says Sydney actually has one of the highest rates of religious belief Australia-wide, despite its cluster of inner-city areas where 'no religion' is the most common response.

The proportion of people in Greater Sydney who identified with any religion was 66 per cent, compared to 61 per cent nationwide.

Aboriginal religions are growing

About 8,000 people in Australia say they practise Aboriginal traditional religions, up from 5,224 10 years ago, making it proportionally one of the faster-growing religions.

In six communities, all in the Northern Territory, including Yarralin, Belyuen and Daguragu, it is the majority religion.

But in many other Indigenous settlements, Christian religions dominate.

Dr Allen says the association with Christianity is a legacy of the early colonisation and assimilation practices of Europeans.

"It is not surprising that a lot of these missions were established by religious orders, primarily Catholics and Anglicans."

About 82 per cent of 1,000 residents of Kowanyama in the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland are Anglicans.

The Anglican Mitchell River Mission was established there in 1905 and was run by the Church of England until 1967.

Similarly, 91 per cent of the 1,500 people who live in Wurrumiyanga in the Tiwi Islands are Catholic, and a third of the 750 people in Yuendumu in the middle of the Northern Territory, are Baptist.

These settlements were home to Catholic and Baptist missionaries, respectively, during the 20th century.

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