Christianity's Decline in Australia: Discover the Gen Z Converts Defying the Trend

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From witches to star seeds, Islam to Orthodox Christianity, the show Insight engages with individuals who have embraced faith and spirituality, as well as those who have distanced themselves from organized religion. You can watch the episode titled “Spiritual Divide” on SBS On Demand.

The weekly services can go for up to three hours, with worshippers standing the entire time.

“I’m in the house of God. I’m not here because I want to be comfortable … to be catered to or entertained. I’m here because I’m here to worship”, he said.

He says the Orthodox church doesn’t try to ‘put on a show’ to get people through the door — something he suggests other denominations might do.

As a young adult, Dane Cousins had no interest in any form of religion. “I was a staunch atheist, believing I could never have faith in anything,” he shared with Insight. His perspective shifted at the age of 21, one day after leaving his university. “Out of nowhere, I felt an external presence communicating with me, something divine… I was faced with a choice between God or death, so I chose God.”

‘I’d tried everything else, and it was time to try God’

Similarly to Dane, religion was not important to Evan Forrest as a teenager. He was raised by non-religious parents and identified as agnostic.

“[Religion] was always something that I sort of knew about but didn’t pay any attention to — didn’t really ever see a need for it in my life.”

When Evan travelled to India as a 20-year-old last year, he had a change of heart at the Taj Mahal. The UNESCO World Heritage site is considered a masterpiece of Islamic architecture.

“I just sort of watched everybody come together to do their part to serve food or cook or clean,” he told Insight.

“When I found out that they were all doing it for free — just volunteering — it made me wonder why.”

Returning to Australia, Evan found himself in a slump.

Now aged 24, Dane has delved into various religions and selected Eastern Orthodoxy for its “sacred worship practices” and “uninterrupted lineage.” He appreciates that this Christian branch is not about comfort. “[Other Christian services] seem to be entertainment-focused with bands, music, and dances, which is not my purpose for attending.”

a young man in shorts, tshirt, sunglasses and a cap stands crossed-arm smiling in front of the Taj Mahal

Evan says he had a religious of heart visiting the Taj Mahal last year. Source: Supplied

One day, a colleague invited him to a Sunday service at her Pentecostal church.

“I’d tried everything else, and it was time to try God,” Evan said.

“I remember being so honest as I walked up to the door. I said: ‘God, I literally have no clue if you’re real, but if you are, I want to know, and I’d love for you to show me’.”

Evan says he has never looked back from that Sunday afternoon, seeing so many young people together.

Gen Z’s spiritual and religious rise

Gen Z men (aged 13-28) are more likely than women to identify as religious, according to a 2022 Australian Community Survey conducted by National Church Life Survey Research (NCLSR) with 3090 participants.

This NCLSR survey reported that 26 per cent of gen Z males believe “there is a personal God”, compared to 18 per cent of gen Z females.

NCLSR’s key activity is a five-yearly survey of Christian churches in Australia.

“I owned a car, had a promising career, was pursuing an engineering degree; everything seemed perfect… yet I felt profoundly empty without understanding why.”

an infographic showing that 43.9 per cent of people in Australia identified as Christian in 2021, which declined from 52.1 per cent in 2016, and 61.1 per cent in 2011. This marks a 17.2 per cent decrease over a decade.

The 2021 Census highlighted a decline in Australians identifying as Christian. Source: SBS

Dr Anna Halafoff, an associate professor of Sociology at Deakin University, specialises in spirituality and says there are certain groups within Christianity experiencing growth.

“That does include a lot of Pentecostal groups, charismatic groups, and also emerging Christian groups,” she said.

“We are definitely seeing young people drawn to those groups and movements … Orthodoxy is also rising.”

She says there is also a rise in spirituality in Australia — especially with younger generations. According to 2023 research conducted by Halafoff and her colleagues, 38 per cent of gen Z in Australia describe themselves as spiritual.

According to the 2021 Census, 43.9% of Australians identified as Christian, a decline from 52.1% in 2016 and 61.1% in 2011, marking a 17.2% drop over ten years. The 2022 NCLSR survey also highlighted that 34% of Gen Z females believe in “some sort of spirit or life force,” compared to 26% of Gen Z males.

An infographic on the religious or spiritual beliefs of gen Z in Australia

Some research suggests that more male members of gen Z identify as religious than female members do.

Halaloff says there is also substantive numbers of young people who stay in the religion they’re born into; these people can be described as nominally religious.

The researcher suggests there are many possible reasons for younger people looking towards religion — including that religions may shift to appeal to new audiences, and simply the nature of one’s formative years.

“Youth is a time of really defining your own identity. It’s a time when you’re going to feel pressures that you haven’t necessarily felt to the same degree — in terms of economic pressures or social pressures — and having to make those decisions,” she said.

She says youth is also a time of life when people might seek community.

“Often people get involved in religious groups through significant relationships, whether that’s with peers or through a romantic relationship.”

Spirituality within organised religion

Soaliha Iqbal, 26, met her husband while studying at university. He converted to Soaliha’s religion of Islam before they married.

“[He] is a white Australian man who was raised non-religious … I don’t think he really ever had an interest in religion until he met me.”

Soaliha was raised Muslim within a Muslim community by her parents — who immigrated to Australia from Pakistan — and went to a Muslim school until she was 10 years old.

“When you belong to both a minority ethnic group and a minority religion in a country like Australia, it’s typical for cultural and religious identities to merge,” Soaliha commented.

a young woman in a red and gold traditional Pakistani wedding outfit with lots of jewellery and a young man in a black suit with flowers in his pocket

Soaliha and her husband. Source: Supplied

While Soaliha never doubted her faith, she explored what it meant to her as a young adult.

“I was really renegotiating a lot of how I connected to and expressed religion,” she said.

“Because I would consider myself very spiritual and I belonged to an organised religion.”

She says that along with generosity, charity and mutual aid being key components of her spiritual and religious expression, community connection was likely a big part of her husband’s decision to convert.

A ‘third space’ alternative?

For Rajas Satija, 21, it’s no surprise that younger people are looking to religion and spirituality.

“COVID kind of exacerbated this trend of young people looking for third spaces,” he said.

A third space is a neutral public space where people can connect and socialise that is separate from the spaces of work and home.

“And I think religion does offer a very viable alternative for a lot of people.”

a young man in a black top and dark hair smiles at the camera; he stands in front of a window that looks out to an apartment building

Rajas started the group Dharma Down Under when he was aged 19. Source: Supplied

Rajas was raised by progressive Hindu parents. When he was 19, Rajas started the group Dharma Down Under for people aged 18-30 to meet and search for meaning.

“Dharma is essentially all traditions that exist within India … Loosely translated, it means duty, or that which sustains,” Rajas said.

“And it is interpreted in different forms in the four major religions of India: Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism.”

Rajas says people from these religious backgrounds aren’t often taught to ask spiritual questions and wants to connect with people like himself who have grown up within them.

“We look at our scriptures in a very critical way; we’ll discuss the worst parts of them.”

For other religious converts like Dane, it was about a connection with God.

“Once I began engaging with faith and allowed myself to believe in something, I just noticed that everything in my life started to make a lot more sense.”

Dane says he plans on being Orthodox for the rest of his life.

“I have a lot of learning to do. I am a terrible sinner.

“But through God, I may be saved.”