Profiles of almost 1300 Catholic parishes across Australia have been published, offering insights that parishes have been encouraged to use in their pastoral planning processes.

The parish “social profiles” draw on data captured in the 2016 Australian Census and examine the Catholic population within parish boundaries.

Trudy Dantis, the director of the National Centre for Pastoral Research, said the reports provide statistics on a range of demographic measures, including age, sex and country of birth, that present the evolving nature of Catholic parishes.

They also contain important information on the language people speak at home, the makeup of their families and households, their income levels, their occupation, and employment status. Data on educational background and attendance at educational institutions are also included.

The parish profiles complete the National Centre for Pastoral Research’s major reports on the 2016 Census data, following earlier reports on the Church nationally and at the diocesan level.

Where possible, the statistics in the 2016 parish profiles have been compared with the 2011 data.

The Catholic Diocese of Ballarat 2016 Social Profile can be read here.

2016 Parish Social Profiles for the Ballarat Diocese can be accessed here.

More information is published on the National Centre for Pastoral Research website.