The comment came after Census data released on Tuesday showed 33.2 per cent of people in the federal electorate of Newcastle claimed no religious affiliation – a jump of 10.3 per cent from the 2011 Census.

In the Hunter outside Newcastle, 24.1 per cent of people said they did not identify as belonging to a religion – up 7.3 per cent from the previous national survey.

The Anglican and Catholic churches each took a hit in the results.

The Anglican church saw a 5.9 per cent drop in the Newcastle federal electorate between 2011 and 2016 – leaving it at 16.6 per cent – and a 4.9 per cent decrease in the rest of the Hunter Region (26.5 per cent).

The number of people who identified as Catholic in the 2016 Census dropped by 3.5 per cent to 22.2 per cent in the Newcastle electorate, while the remainder of the Hunter recorded a drop of 1.7 per cent – to 23.4 per cent.

Bishop Wright said the Census results reflected a trend that had been apparent “for some time”.

“There’s no simple explanation for that trend, though obviously it is exacerbated by the disillusionment many people have felt over the church’s history of failure to protect children who were in their care,” he said. 

“That’s certainly the case in our region.”

Anglican Diocese of Newcastle Bishop Administrator Dr Peter Stuart said the declining level of religious affiliation was not surprising “given the change of religious and spiritual practice in Australia over the last 50 years”.

“The various Christian traditions have much in common and 51 per cent of the population indicates some form of affiliation with the Christian faith,” he said.

“Given this strong level of affiliation, the community can be confident that Anglican leaders will continue to contribute to important issues facing our region and beyond.”