Religious change

By Shaun Inguanzo
THE number of Muslims, Buddhists and non-believers is on the rise in Greater Dandenong while once-powerhouse religions such as Catholicism are losing their following.
That’s according to statistical data in the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census, released last week.
Greater Dandenong’s population saw a minor increase in the 2006 census, moving from 123,965 in 2001 to 125,520.
City of Greater Dandenong Council released a statement suggesting the population could be as high as 133,000 due to people not completing or being present in the city at the time of the census.
The population, according to the 2006 census, is divided 50/50 into men and women.
While Australian-born residents make up 40 per cent of the population, Indian-born residents jumped into the top five countries of birth in the city, from less than 2500 in 2001 to more than 3800 residents in 2006.
The city’s diverse religious landscape has expanded to accommodate a sharp rise in Islam, which was particularly strong in the suburb of Dandenong.
In the 2001 census Islam did not rate in the city’s top five religions by population. Yet in the 2006 census it jumped to fourth place, beaten only by those who selected no religious affiliation, Buddhism and Catholicism.
There are now almost 10,000 Muslim residents, who make up about eight per cent of the city’s population.
The number of residents with no religious affiliation jumped from 13,310 in 2001 to 14,636 at last year’s census, or almost 12 per cent.
Catholicism slumped from 36,061 residents in 2001 to 33,689 in 2006.
However, that figure still represents 26.8 percent of Greater Dandenong’s population, which is higher than the national average of 25.8 per cent.
Anglican and Orthodox religions also suffered cuts to the number of followers in the city, falling out of the top five.
Buddhism maintained its popularity among residents, increasing from 16,678 to 18,766 and representing 15 per cent of the city’s population.
Other statistics from last year’s census reveal the average Greater Dandenong resident was paying $160 a week in rent, or repaying $1080 a month into a home loan.
And resident are poorer than the rest of the nation, scraping together a meagre income of $342 gross per week compared to the national average of $466.