Greater numbers lacking a religion

BETWEEN 2011 and 2016, 18,838 more Cairns residents identified as having no religion.

The Australian Census data also showed a drop in those identifying as Catholic, Anglican and part of the Uniting Church while about 5000 more people refused to state their religion in 2016 compared to 2011.

This week, Cairns Catholic Diocese launched its new religious education program Catholic Faith in Action, removing the need for students to study compulsory religion subjects which contributed to their OP or ATAR scores.

Catholic Education Services identity and outreach director Sharon O’Keefe said the program resulted after consulting with students who said they wanted a more practical way to apply their faith.

“We still have the ATAR religion subjects they can choose but they were finding they weren’t meeting student’s needs,” she said.

“I have no hard data but I can say out of all of our colleges, students are still taking the elective subjects study of religion and religion and ethics.”

CES executive director Bill Dixon said “at a time when so- ciety is becoming increasingly secular, and some people even question the existence of God, there was a need for a new approach.”

Trinity Anglican School principal Paul Sjogren said there was a demand for the moral teachings that came from a faith-based education.

The independent school does not have a compulsory religious subject for senior students but Bible teachings were incorporated daily into school life.

Escaping religious education was not a reason parents sought enrolment at Cairns State High School, according to principal Christopher Zilm.