Religious affiliation in the ADF

Religious affiliation of the Australian Defence Forces in 2019 quoted from the source: https://www.defence.gov.au/defencecensus/_Master/docs/Defence-Census-2019-Public-Report.pdf

Permanent ADF Members

Religion Fifty-six per cent of ADF(P) members indicated they had no religious affiliation, up from 53% in 2015. There was no noticeable difference in this regard across the Services. The most common religious affiliation was Christian (40%), with another 2% of members nominating non-Christian religions, the most common of which were Buddhism, Hinduism, Paganism, Islam, Sikhism and Judaism.

ADF Reserve Members

Religion In contrast to the ADF(P), more ADF(R) members had a religious affiliation than did not, with 40% of ADF(R) members indicating that they had no religious affiliation. More than half (56%) of ADF(R) members identified as Christian; this was the case for 60% of Naval Reserve, 59% of Air Force Reserve and 54% of Army Reserve. The other most commonly nominated religions were Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Paganism and Judaism.

Defence Australian Public Servants

Overall, 39% of Defence APS employees had no religious affiliation. The proportion of those without religious affiliation generally increased with classification: 35% for APS TR-4 employees, 39% for APS 5-6 employees, 42% for EL 1-2 employees, and 43% for SES 1-3 employees. Around two in five (42%) indicated that they did have a religion or belong to a religious group, with the highest proportion (38%) identifying as being Christian. Other commonly nominated religions were Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and Paganism.

ADF Reserve

In contrast to the ADF(P), more ADF(R) members had a religious affiliation than did not, with 40% of ADF(R) members indicating that they had no religious affiliation. More than half (56%) of ADF(R) members identified as Christian; this was the case for 60% of Naval Reserve, 59% of Air Force Reserve and 54% of Army Reserve. The other most commonly nominated religions were Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Paganism and Judaism.