Hinduism grew by 60% in Australia during 2011-2016, raising the numbers of Hindus to 440,300; according to an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) release referring to 2016 Census of Population and Housing.
It was now the fourth largest religion in Australia after Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Median age of Australian Hindus is 31, 92% live in urban areas, and 81% are born overseas; per this release.
Various religions which saw drop in numbers during 2011-2016 included Christianity, Judaism, Paganism, Spiritualism, Wiccan and Taoism. 61% of Australian population is “affiliated with a religion or spiritual belief”. About “48,000 people reported themselves as Jedi”, although it is not a recognized religion in Australia. The religion with the highest proportion of females to males is Wiccan, with 26 males per 100 females; while Rastafari had 346 males per 100 females; ABS release points out.
On February eight at seven pm, the resident population of Australia was projected to be 24,823,766; where there is overall total population increase of one person every one minute and 26 seconds.
Meanwhile, distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, congratulated the Hindu community in Australia for continuing with the traditional values of hard work, higher morals, stress on education, sanctity of marriage, etc.; amidst so many distractions.
Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, advised Hindus to focus on inner search, stay pure, explore the vast wisdom of scriptures, make spirituality more attractive to youth and children, stay away from the greed, and always keep God in your life.
Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about 1.1 billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.
ABS, Australia’s national statistical agency, whose Vision is “Unleashing the power of statistics for a better Australia”, was established as a Statutory Authority in the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975; although statistics were collected by each state in 1901. Headquartered in Canberra, it is headed by the Australian Statistician David W. Kalisch.