RELIGION IN AUSTRALIA

is diverse. The Constitution of Australia of 1901 prohibits the Commonwealth government from establishing a church or interfering with the freedom of religion;^{[note 1]} however, the country is predominantly Christian. In an optional question on the 2011 Census, 61.1% of the Australian population declared some variety of Christianity. Historically the percentage has been far higher and the religious landscape of Australia is changing and diversifying.^[1] Also in 2011, 22.3% of Australians stated "no religion" and a further 9.4% chose not to answer the question.^[1] The remaining population is a diverse group which includes Buddhists (2.5%), Muslims (2.2%), Hindus(1.3%) and Jews (0.5%).^[1]

Australia's Aboriginal people developed the animist spirituality of the Dreaming and some of the earliest evidence on earth for religious practices among humans has been found in the archaeological record of their ancestors. Torres Strait Islanderreligion bore similarities to broader Melanesian spirituality. The general isolation of indigenous Australian religion ended with the arrival of the first British settlers in 1788, whereafter subsequent immigrants and their descendants have been predominantly Christian.