Australians believe in God: poll

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A POLL has revealed that most Australians believe in God or a similar universal spirit, but a majority also believe in miracles, life after death and angels, and many believe in astrology and UFOs.

The surprising findings from a Nielsen poll for Fairfax newspapers show Australia is a credulous nation, willing to mix and match religious faith with belief in other phenomena.

Although Australians are widely considered to be a secular people, nearly half of the population believe in psychic powers such as extrasensory perception, while 41 per cent believe in astrology.

The research shows that Australians are more religious than we might have thought - 68 per cent of us believe in God or a universal spirit.

But atheists and agnostics also had a strong showing in the national survey of 1,000 respondents, taken early this week.

Almost one in four Australians (24 per cent) do not believe in either God or a universal spirit, and seven per cent are not sure or say they "don't know".

But God is not the only thing Australians believe in. They place their faith in a range of other phenomena. For example, 63 per cent believe in miracles, and 53 per cent believe in life after death.

Angels are also popular, with 51 per cent of respondents saying they believe in them, slightly more than the 49 per cent who hold faith in psychic powers such as ESP.

Forty-one per cent of people believe in astrology.

Thirty-four per cent of Australians believe in UFOs and 22 per cent think witches exist.