Belief in heaven and hell, angels and demons - religion is not dead in Australia yet

A troubling sign for those "It's alright to vote No" people in this week's Essential Poll. While 53% of people who attend church at least once a month are against same sex marriage, those who never attend are 71% in favour. And the never-goers are a growing group. According to the 2016 official Australian Bureau of Statistics Census there are now more people saying they have no religion than there are Catholics - 30% no religion to 23% Catholics and 52% for Christians overall. Sometimes Christian attenders split 58% saying allow same sex marriage to 34% saying no.

When it comes to religion in Australia things have changed considerably over the last 50 years. Back in 1966 only 0.8% of people answered the Census question that they had no religion. And even among the Christian faithful the Essential poll suggests that all is not as it once was. Asked "How much trust do you have in the following institutions and organisations?", respondents had most trust in the Federal police (71%), State police (67%), the High Court (61%), the ABC (52%) and the Reserve Bank (49%). They had least trust in political parties (17%), business groups (27%), trade unions (27%) and religious organisations (28%).

Still, the pollsters tell us that religion has not lost all its influence. Consider these Essential findings:


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