05/08/2026
How to Identify as a Christian on the Census When the ABS Gives You No Box to Tick
Census night is Tuesday 11 August. What Australians write on their census form that night will help decide, for the next five years, how Christian our country is officially said to be.
Whether you’re a Christian or only loosely affiliated with Christianity, getting the answer right is important — especially as confusion and concerns of bias and donkey voting swirl around the religion question again this year.
The religion question — Question 24 — provides Australians with ten options to choose between, as well as the opportunity to write your own answer. Among the listed options are the six largest Christian denominations in Australia: Catholic, Anglican, Uniting Church, Greek Orthodox, Presbyterian and Baptist. If you see your denomination there, tick it.
Even if your identity as a Christian is more important to you than your denominational tie, still choose your denomination. The reason is simple: your answer here helps determine how much funding your denomination may receive for schools, hospitals and chaplains — and even where new churches are allowed to be built.
If you belong to a denomination that isn’t listed — such as Lutheran, Pentecostal, Salvation Army, Seventh-day Adventist, or to a more specific Catholic or Orthodox tradition — select “Other” and write it down.
If you attend a church that has a generic or branded name and you’re not sure which denomination it belongs to, don’t write the church’s name. Instead, take 30 seconds with a search engine and type “What denomination is…” along with the name and location of your church. Then select “Other” on your census form and write that answer. If the answer still isn’t clear to you, just write “Christian”.
If you don’t attend church or are unsure about denominations but still consider yourself a Christian by upbringing or general worldview, select “Other” and write “Christian”.
And to any Christian tempted to tick “no religion” because your faith feels more like a relationship than a religion, don’t tick “no religion” — unless you want to be counted the same as an atheist! The best way to express your identity would be to select “Other” and write “Christian”.
In short:
- Your denomination is listed (Catholic, Anglican, Uniting Church, Greek Orthodox, Presbyterian, Baptist) → tick it.
- Your denomination isn’t listed (Lutheran, Pentecostal, Salvation Army, etc.) → select “Other” and write your denomination.
- You don’t know the denomination of your church → look it up, select “Other” and write it down. If you still don’t know, write “Christian.”
- You don’t go to church but still consider yourself Christian in some sense → select “Other” and write “Christian.”
- You have a relationship with God but don’t see yourself as “religious” → select “Other” and write “Christian.”
