3310.0 - Marriages and Divorces, Australia, 2013  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 26/11/2014   
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MARRIAGES AND DIVORCES, AUSTRALIA

This publication provides data and information about marriages registered and divorces granted in Australia in 2013 on a state or territory of registration basis rather than a state or territory of usual residence. The publication presents statistics on the number of marriages registered, crude marriage rates, median age at marriage, age-specific marriage rates, previous marital status, use of marriage celebrants, country of birth of those marrying, and living arrangements for couples prior to marriage. Divorce statistics in this publication provide state, territory and national level data for the number of divorces granted, crude divorce rates, ages at marriage, separation and divorce, age-specific divorce rates, divorces involving children, duration of marriage prior to divorce, and applicants for divorce.


2013 KEY POINTS


There were 118,962 marriages registered and 47,638 divorces granted in Australia in 2013. Over the past five years there has been a gradual increase in the median age at separation and divorce. This aligns with a gradual increase in the median age at first marriage.



MARRIAGES
  • The number of marriages decreased in 2013 by 4,282 (3.5%) and the crude marriage rate decreased from 5.4 in 2012 to 5.1 marriages per 1,000 estimated resident population in 2013.
  • Civil celebrants have overseen the majority of marriages since 1999 and the proportion of marriage ceremonies overseen by a civil celebrant increased again to 72.5 per cent of all marriages in 2013.
  • In 2013, the majority of brides (81.3%) and grooms (79.7%) had not been married before.
  • The median age at marriage in 2013 was 31.5 years for males and 29.5 years for females. This was an increase of 0.1 years for both males and females since 2012.


DIVORCES
  • The number of divorces decreased in 2013 by 2,279 (4.6%) and the crude divorce rate decreased from 2.2 in 2012 to 2.1 divorces per 1,000 estimated resident population in 2013.
  • The median duration from marriage to divorce in 2013 was 12.1 years a slight decrease from 12.2 years reported in 2012.
  • The median age at divorce for males was 44.8 years of age and the median ages of females was 42.2 years of age for the divorces granted in 2013.
  • The largest proportion of divorce applications were from joint applicants, accounting for 41.2% of divorces. Female applicants accounted for 32.9% of divorce applications while male applicants accounted for 25.9%.


SUMMARY TABLES


MARRIAGES

In 2013, there were 118,962 marriages registered in Australia, a decrease of 4,282 (3.5%) from the 123,244 marriages registered in 2012.

Although the number of marriages decreased in 2013, the estimated resident population increased by 407,027 from 2012 to 2013. As a result, the crude marriage rate decreased from 5.4 to 5.1 marriages per 1,000 estimated resident population.

The median age of males and females at marriage was 31.5 and 29.5 years respectively in 2013. The median age at marriage for males and females has increased by 0.1 years since 2012.

The proportion of marriage ceremonies performed by civil celebrants has continued to increase in 2013, with civil celebrants performing 72.5% of all registered marriage ceremonies, an increase from 71.9% in 2012.
Couples who lived together prior to marriage accounted for 76.6% of all marriages registered in 2013, a decrease from the 77.6% registered in 2012.

The proportion of marriages with both partners marrying for the first time increased in 2013 to 72.5% of all marriages. The number of marriages where one partner was marrying for the first time was unchanged (16.3%) from 2012, while the proportion of remarriages for both partners decreased from 11.9% in 2012 to 11.4% in 2013.

In 2013, 55.1% of couples married were both born in Australia, 31.6% were born in different countries, and 13.2% were born in the same overseas country.


1.1 SELECTED MARRIAGE INDICATORS(a), Australia, Selected years, 1993–2013

1993
2003
2009
2010
2011
2012(b)
2013(b)

Marriages registered
no.
113,255
106,394
120,118
121,176
121,752
123,244
118,962
Crude marriage rate(c)
rate
6.4
5.3
5.5
5.4
5.4
5.4
5.1
Previous marital status
First marriage both partners
no.
75,968
70,644
84,780
86,330
86,862
88,543
86,075
First marriage one partner
no.
21,123
19,678
20,107
20,128
20,416
20,091
19,338
Remarriage both partners
no.
16,164
16,072
15,231
14,718
14,474
14,604
13,549
Marriage celebrant
Ministers of religion(d)
Number
no.
51,947
38,003
39,740
37,251
36,372
34,613
32,600
Proportion
%
57.9
43.4
33.1
30.7
29.9
28.1
27.4
Civil Celebrants(d)
Number
no.
65,573
46,187
80,340
83,800
85,311
88,599
86,304
Proportion
%
42.1
56.6
66.9
69.2
70.1
71.9
72.5
Relative birthplace of couple(e)
Both born in Australia
no.
72,532
65,436
69,643
68,588
67,882
69,048
65,603
Both born in the same overseas country
no.
9,021
9,502
14,210
14,585
15,321
15,438
15,727
Born in different countries
no.
31,695
31,444
36,185
37,925
38,45.87
38,687
37,552
Cohabitation prior to marriage
Number
no.
na
79,311
92,978
95,194
95,228
95,673
91,123
Proportion of all marriages
%
na
74.5
77.4
78.6
78.2
77.6
76.6

na not available
(a) See Glossary for definitions of terms used.
(b) Care should be taken in interpreting Victorian data from 2012 as the category values are calculated from a weighted sample. Please see Explanatory Notes 27–29 for further information.
(c) Marriages per 1,000 of estimated resident population at 30 June for each reference year respectively. See Glossary and Explanatory Notes 36–42 for further information.
(d) Excludes marriages where the rite is not stated or not defined. Registers of ministers of religion are maintained by states and territories under the authority of the Marriage Act 1961. Data on religious marriage rites are classified to the Australian Standard Classification of Religious Groups (ASCRG), 2011 (cat. no. 1266.0).
(e) Excludes marriages where country of birth of one or both partners is not stated.


DIVORCES


In 2013, there were 47,638 divorces granted in Australia, a decrease of 2,279 (4.6%) from the 49,917 divorces granted in 2012.

The crude divorce rate for the number of divorces per 1,000 estimated resident population was 2.1 in 2013, a decrease from 2.2 divorces per 1,000 estimated resident population reported for 2011 and 2012.

The median age of males and females at divorce was 44.8 and 42.2 years respectively in 2013. Median age at divorce in 2013 has increased by 0.2 years for males and 0.4 years for females from 2012.

In 2013, divorces involving children represented 47.4% of all divorces granted compared with 48.4% in 2012. The number of children involved in divorces totalled 41,747 in 2013, a decrease from the 44,834 reported in 2012. The average number of children per divorce involving children in 2013 was 1.8.

The median duration from marriage to divorce in 2013 was 12.1 years, a slight decrease from that reported in 2011 and 2012. This number has been decreasing from a peak of 12.6 years in 2005.

Over the last 20 years, the proportion of divorces granted as a result of joint applications for divorce has been increasing. This has continued in 2013 to the point where joint applicants are the highest applicant type for the fourth year in a row, with 19,625 divorces granted from joint applications, compared with 15,684 from female applicants and 12,329 from male applicants.


1.2 SELECTED DIVORCE INDICATORS, Australia, Selected years, 1993-2013

1993
2003
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013

Divorces grantedno.
48,363
53,145
49,448
50,240
48,935
49,917
47,638
Crude divorce rate(a)rate
2.7
2.7
2.3
2.3
2.2
2.2
2.1
Median length of marriage
To separationyears
7.6
8.7
8.7
8.8
8.7
8.6
8.5
To divorceyears
10.7
12.2
12.3
12.3
12.2
12.2
12.1
Divorces involving children(b)
Divorcesno.
25,461
26,637
24,268
24,853
23,619
24,144
22,590
Proportion of all divorces%
52.6
50.1
49.1
49.5
48.3
48.4
47.4
Total number of childrenno.
48,107
49,850
45,195
46,337
43,867
44,834
41,747
Average number of children per divorce(c)no.
1.9
1.9
1.9
1.9
1.9
1.9
1.8
Relative birthplace of people granted divorce(d)
Both born in Australiano.
27,160
30,674
25,922
26,305
24,890
25,301
24,385
Both born in same overseas countryno.
6,220
7,055
7,550
8,064
8,455
8,623
8,180
Born in different countriesno.
14,746
14,223
13,295
13,553
13,194
13,517
12,904
Type of applicant(e)
Maleno.
17,098
17,229
13,236
13,215
12,924
12,958
12,329
Femaleno.
23,630
22,870
18,149
18,083
17,439
17,140
15,684
Jointno.
7,635
13,046
18,063
18,941
18,572
19,819
19,625

(a) Number of divorces per 1,000 estimated resident population at 30 June for each reference year respectively. See Glossary and Explanatory Notes 33–34 and 38–40 for more information.
(b) Unmarried children of the marriage who were aged under 18 years at the time of application for divorce. See Glossary for more information.
(c) Excludes divorces not involving children.
(d) Excludes divorces where country of birth of one party or both parties is not stated.
(e) Excludes divorces where type of applicant is not stated.