Clarification on how Judaism is recorded in the 2026 Census religion question

Released: 03/08/2026

Current commentary about the 2026 Census misrepresents the question on a person's religion and the way Judaism is captured and reported in Census data.  

A question on religion has been included in all Australian Censuses since 1911.  

The 2026 Census includes the same religious affiliation question wording and tick box options as the 2021 Census.  

Judaism has not been removed as an option from the Census form, as it has never been a pre-filled response option on the Census religion question.  

Judaism has been included as an example in the instructional text since examples were introduced in 2001.   

The question “What is the person’s religion?” allows a person to choose a response from a list of tick-box options, or to write their religion in a free text field. 

Tick-box options in the 2026 Census are based on the most common mutually exclusive responses from 2021. These options are: No religion, Catholic, Anglican (Church of England), Islam, Hinduism, Uniting Church, Presbyterian, Buddhism, Greek Orthodox, and Baptist. 

The Census form has been improved to include further information to support people writing in religions not listed in the tick-boxes. Examples include Macedonian Orthodox, Lutheran, Salvation Army, Judaism, Sikhism, and Taoism.  
 
 

Additional information 

• Please see here for the religion question in the 2021 Census form  
• Guidance on how to answer the Census questions and what the data is used for. 
• Support for people to complete their Census. 
• For media requests and interviews, contact ABS Media at media@abs.gov.au or call 1300 175 070.