ABSTRACT
Paradoxically, Australia today can be regarded synchronously as a Christian, post-Christian, and non-religious country. These three understandings of the place of religion in this country live side by side, and while Christianity is in decline, non-Christian religions and no religion are growing. This chapter first focuses on contemporary census data and on some mapping to understand this context in Australia and in its states and territories. It notices that the mix of these trends is different depending on where you live. While New South Wales is among the most Christian of states, it also has a high concentration of non-Christian communities. Similarly, Victoria is among the most non-Christian of all states, but it is also the least religious state. This chapter then moves to one case study per category to observe recent developments. For Christianity, it focuses on Pentecostalism, a new form of Christianity that is on the rise. In relation to the rise of non-Christian communities, it details a backlash towards a specific religion in Australia, Islam. To do this, it unpacks the notion of Islamophobia. For the last category, this chapter highlights recent survey findings from Generation Z that indicate that younger generations are becoming increasingly non-religious.
