It is not known exactly when, where or why Adelaide earned the nickname of City of Churches. It is believed to have been in use since before 1872, when the term was quoted by English novelist Anthony Trollope in his book Australia and New Zealand.

The state of South Australia (of which Adelaide is the capital city) was the only one in Australia founded purely by free settlers. These free settlers had strong traditions of religion which they brought with them from their own countries, and particularly, the freedom to practise their own religion and form of worship: this was especially the case for the German settlers. Many large and beautiful churches were built in and around Adelaide, and still stand today. The churches are the oldest buildings in Adelaide; among them, Holy Trinity Anglican Church on North Terrace (1838) and the Quaker Meeting House in Pennington Terrace (1840). More than anywhere else, Adelaide churches seem to have reflected the different architectural styles through the years, and because many of these included gothic styles with high spires, even today they tend to dominate the city's skyline.

Another quirk of South Australian settlement which led to the "City of Churches" tag was that religious groups of any denomination were allowed to be granted a city acre plus a parcel of non city land (some sources claim about 40 acres). Given the size of city blocks this made for a large number of sites. Different religious groupings within the same church were also eligible for the grants. The land could be used for any purpose but it was primarily used for building churches. This was largely because of the high population density in the city. The non city land tended to be used to endow schools or other religious establishments (eg St Peters boys school, Price Alfred College, the Passionist monastery on Cross Road etc).

Catholic, Anglican, Uniting, Orthodox, Baptist, various Pentecostal groups, Salvation Army, Church of Christ, Presbyterian, Seventh Day Adventist and Lutheran are all quite active in Australia. There is a tendancy for the larger traditional denominations to be declining while the Pentecostal - such as the Assemblies of God and CRC - or non-denominational ones grow. In certain areas, a particular denomination may be more active due to historic circumstances. In South Australia and parts of Victoria, the Lutheran church is more active than in other parts due to the German settlers concentrating in those areas during settlement.

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Australia Day (26 January) and ANZAC Day (25 April) are Australia's main national holidays, unique to the country. However, other national holidays include:

• Easter, Christmas and New Year's Day (as per the rest of the nations which celebrate Easter and Christmas)
• Labour Day (1st Monday in October in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, 1st Monday in May in the Northern Territory where it is called May Day, 1st Monday in March in Western Australia, 2nd Monday in March in Victoria, and the equivalent public holiday in Tasmania is Eight Hours Day on the 2nd Monday in March)
• Queen's Birthday (2nd Monday in June except for Western Australia, where it is either late September or early October)

according to the census 2007 63.9% of Australians claimed to be Christian's.
Catholic-------------------------------------------------------5,126,880-------25.8%
Anglican------------------------------------------------------3,718,252-------18.7%
Uniting church in Australia--------------------------------1,135,427------- 5.7%
Presbyterian and Reformed------------------------------596,671----------3.0%
Babtist--------------------------------------------------------316,738----------1.6%
Lutheran-----------------------------------------------------251,107----------1.3%
Pentecostal--------------------------------------------------219,689----------1.1%
Other Protestants------------------------------------------736,102----------3.7%
Orthodox-----------------------------------------------------544,160----------2.7%
Oriental Orthodox------------------------------------------40,900------------0.2%
Total Christian Population =- 12,685836---------63.9%

Care must be taken in identifying those people who hold Christian views, compared to those who identify with Christianity as a cultural identity or for family association. An AC Neilsen poll taken in 2009 classified 50% of Australians as Christian; 5% Christian (Universal Spirit only); 3% Unsure (Christian background); 8% "Non-believer (Christian background)" - so 63% of Australians identified themselves in some way with Christianity, but only 50% were actual Christians.

Confirming a lower figure for actual believers, 49% of Australians said they believed in God, 11% believed in a "Universal Spirit" and 7% believed in both. Those who either believed in God (only) or God plus a Universal Spirit totalled 57%. These figures would presumably include Muslims and Jews.