The findings show women are much more likely to believe in God and other phenomena than men, with the exception of UFOs: while 34 per cent of Australians believe UFOs exist, men are more likely than women to do so. The research shows that Australians are more religious than we might have thought - 68 per cent of us believe in God or a universal spirit, and 50 per cent say religion is important or very important in their lives. But atheists and agnostics also had a strong showing in the national survey of 1000 respondents, taken early this week. Almost one in four Australians (24 per cent) do not believe in either God or a universal spirit, and 7 per cent are not sure or say they ''don't know''. Women have more faith than men, with 56 per cent saying they believe in God and 13 per cent saying they believe in a universal spirit, compared with 43 per cent and 11 per cent of men, respectively.

Most people with faith hold it strongly, with 88 per cent saying they were either absolutely or fairly certain in their belief. Christianity, generally considered to be on the decline, was still the largest faith, with 64 per cent of believers nominating it as the religion they most identified with. The next biggest was Buddhism, at 2 per cent, followed by Hinduism and Islam, which each had 1 per cent of believers. Judaism accounted for less than half of 1 per cent of believers. But God is not the only thing Australians believe in. They place their faith in a range of other phenomena. For example, 63 per cent believe in miracles, and 53 per cent believe in life after death. Angels are also popular, with 51 per cent of respondents saying they believe in them, slightly more than the 49 per cent who hold faith in psychic powers such as ESP.

Forty-one per cent of people believe in astrology. Some beliefs seem to be contradictory. While 56 per cent of people believe in heaven, only 38 per cent believe in hell, and belief in God is much more popular than faith in the devil, with only 37 per cent of respondents believing in Satan. Thirty-four per cent of Australians believe in UFOs and 22 per cent think witches exist. But the difference between the sexes is stark. Men (32 per cent) were almost twice as likely as women (17 per cent) to say they did not believe in God or a universal spirit, and women were far less likely than men to classify themselves as atheists - 12 per cent of women compared with 20 per cent of men. The 50 per cent of the population classified as ''Christian'' were also asked about their specific beliefs in Jesus. Ninety-four per cent believed he was a real person who lived 2000 years ago. And although 91 per cent believed he was the son of God, only 72 per cent think the mother of Jesus Christ was a virgin.

Nearly a quarter of us believe the biblical account of the origin of human beings over the Darwinian account taught in schools and universities. Forty-two per cent of people believe in a wholly scientific explanation for the origins of life and 32 per cent believe in an evolutionary process ''guided by God''. The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, said the poll results showed the religious instinct was universal. ''That faith is important or very important to at least half of the population is what we have always suspected - an 'iceberg effect' that people may not necessarily speak up about their faith but it is very significant to their lives,'' he said. The fact that the Christian faith was in the clear majority among believers was ''no cause for triumphalism''.

''I would reflect rather on why this is not translating into church membership.'' Loading There was no denying that increased numbers of people described themselves as non-believers, but this was no boon to the atheist cause, he said. ''The decline of Christian faith does not lead to lack of religious belief; it just opens the way for superstition.''