A row has flared over the religion question in next week’s Census as secularist groups are accused of trying to skew results by advising Australians how to answer the country’s most important national survey. Source: The Australian.
Christian leaders and a top demographer have claimed the campaign, led by the Rationalist Society and the National Secular Lobby, is actively trying to influence the 2026 Census by circulating a questionnaire that instructs people how to fill out their response on religion.
The quiz, run under the “Census – Not religious? Mark no religion” campaign, promises a free, fast and personalised result to “help you choose the most accurate response on the Australian Census question”.
Anglican Bishop Michael Stead said the mock survey was “deliberately distorting” what the religion question was meant to be assess by encouraging people to select “no religion” if they do not actively practise their faith.
And demographer Mark McCrindle also raised concerns the campaign was trying to skew the Census data as the question is meant to record religious affiliation, and not test how often Australians attend their place of worship.
The stoush is the latest issue to face the Census after Jewish groups flagged they were not listed on the form, and the “no religion” box was left at the top of the options available for Australians to choose from, fuelling concerns it would lead to an inaccurate result.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics previously considered changing the faith question in this year’s Census from “what is the person’s religion” to “does the person have a religion?” due to concerns the current wording assumed people were religious.
This was abandoned amid concerns about a lack of data, alongside a push in 2024 from religious leaders directly to Anthony Albanese, and pro-secular groups vehemently opposed the decision to keep the question unchanged.
Although the “tick no religion” campaign has been run in the past, this is the first time a questionnaire has been shared with the public.
The Rationalist Society denied it was instructing people but president Victor Franco suggested the quiz was circulated as a result of the failed bid to change the Census. He argued the current question would lead to biased data.
In June, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference encouraged Catholics to identify themselves in the national Census.
National Centre for Pastoral Research director Trudy Dantis said data from the religion question was crucial to helping Catholic parishes, schools, dioceses and organisations understand their communities and plan for ministry and mission.
FULL STORY
Secular attempt to influence response to Census religion question sparks almighty row (By Elizabeth Pike, The Australian)
Catholics encouraged to identify themselves in the Census (ACBC)
