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Main articles: Roman Catholic Church and Christianity in Australia

The Roman Catholic Church in Australia is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and Curia in Rome.

There are an estimated 5.1 million baptised Roman Catholics in Australia, 28% of the population, a plurality, making it Australia's largest single Christian denomination (larger than "Protestants" and "Anglicans" combined).

In Australia's seven archdioceses and 32 dioceses there are an estimated 3,000 priests and 9,000 men and women in Catholic orders.

Until the 1986 census, Australia's most populous Christian faith was Anglican. Since then, Roman Catholics have outnumbered Anglicans in Australia and the percentage is rising. One rationale to explain this relates to changes in Australia's immigration policy, people more recently coming from a more diverse range of countries rather than predominantly the United Kingdom. While Roman Catholicism is now the largest denomination in Australia, active participation seen in church attendance is low as Australians are not overtly religious^[1].

The National Church Life Survey of weekly attendance, found that between 1996-2001 Roman Catholic attendance at weekly services dropped by 13% to 764,800^[2].

William Bernard Ullathorne (1806-1889) was instrumental in influencing Pope Gregory XVI to establish the hierarchy in Australia. Ullathorne was in Australia from 1833-1836 as vicar-general to Bishop William Morris (1794-1872), whose jurisdiction extended over the Australian missions.

Within Australia the Church hierarchy is made of Metropolitan Archdioceses and Suffragan Sees. Each diocese has a Bishop, while each Archdiocese is served by an Archbishop. Australia has three living members of the College of Cardinals, including the current Archbishop of Sydney, George Cardinal Pell, Edward Cardinal Clancy and Edward Cardinal Cassidy.

• Archdiocese of Adelaide
  • Diocese of Darwin
  • Diocese of Port Pirie

• Archdiocese of Brisbane
  • Diocese of Cairns
  • Diocese of Rockhampton
  • Diocese of Toowoomba
  • Diocese of Townsville

• Archdiocese of Melbourne
  • Diocese of Ballarat
  • Ukrainian Eparchy of Ss Peter and Paul (described as "attached" not "suffragan")
  • Diocese of Sale
  • Diocese of Sandhurst

• Archdiocese of Perth
  • Diocese of Broome
  • Diocese of Bunbury
  • Diocese of Geraldton

• Archdiocese of Sydney
  • Diocese of Armidale
  • Diocese of Bathurst
  • Diocese of Broken Bay
  • Diocese of Lismore
  • Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle
  • Diocese of Parramatta
  • Diocese of Wagga Wagga
  • Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes
  • Diocese of Wollongong
• Immediately subject to the holy see
  • Archdiocese of Hobart
  • Military Ordinariate of Australia
  • Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn
  • Maronite Diocese of St Maroun
  • Melkite Eparchy of St Michael, Archangel
  • Chaldean Eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle

• O'Farrell, Patrick (1977). The Catholic Church and Community in Australia. Thomas Nelson (Australia), West Melbourne. 
• Franklin, James (2006). Catholic Values and Australian Realities. Connor Court Publishing (Australia), Ballan. 

• The Roman Catholic Church in Australia's official website
• The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference official website
• Website of Patrick O'Farrell, historian of Catholic Australia
• Catholic Church in Australia. Catholic-Hierarchy.