STATE AND TERRITORY DATA

Marriage statistics in this publication are presented by the State or Territory where the marriage was registered, rather than the State or Territory of usual residence of the couple. For this reason, the ABS advises caution in the interpretation of data at a State or Territory level as couples may choose to marry outside their State or Territory of usual residence. Refer to Explanatory Notes 23-24 for more information.

1.13 Number of marriages, States and Territories(a) - Selected years - 1991-2011
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.(b)	NT	ACT	Aust.
1991	39 594	28 535	19 844	9 392	10 659	3 069	890	1 886	113 869
2001	36 109	24 953	20 314	7 434	9 785	2 182	781	1 572	103 130
2007	37 982	26 967	25 808	8 095	12 290	2 791	779	1 610	116 322
2008	39 137	27 089	26 803	8 046	12 367	2 685	955	1 674	118 756
2009	40 516	27 750	26 342	8 208	12 184	2 637	919	1 562	120 118
2010	40 371	28 142	26 530	8 323	12 684	2 577	954	1 595	121 176
2011	41 720	28 944	25 560	8 115	12 665	2 329	908	1 511	121 752
(a) Care should be taken in interpreting these figures as marriage data is by State or Territory of registration rather than usual residence. See Explanatory Notes 23-24 for further information.
(b) Care should be taken in interpreting Tasmanian figures for 2011. See Explanatory Note 24 for further information.

New South Wales (up by 1,349 or 3.3% from 2010) and Victoria (up by 802 or 2.8% from 2010) were the only jurisdictions to report an increase in the number of registered marriages from 2010 to 2011. Decreases were reported across all other States and Territories, the largest of these being in Queensland which decreased by 970 or 3.3% in comparison to 2010.

New South Wales recorded the highest crude marriage rate in 2011 (5.7 marriages per 1,000 estimated resident population), whilst the Northern Territory had the lowest crude marriage rate, with 3.9 marriages per 1,000 estimated resident population.

Marriages performed by ministers of religion as a proportion of all marriages in 2011 were highest in New South Wales (34.0%) and lowest in the Northern Territory (21.1%).

In 2011, the proportion of marriages where couples lived together prior to marriage was lowest in New South Wales (71.8%) and highest in Tasmania (87.5%).

1.14 Selected marriage indicators(a), States and Territories of registration(b) - 2011
				NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.(c)	NT	ACT	Aust.
Marriages registered			no.	41 720	28 944	25 560	8 115	12 665	2 329	908	1 511	121 752
Crude marriage rate(d)				5.7	5.1	5.6	4.9	5.4	4.6	3.9	4.1	5.4
Median age at first marriage
	Males		no.	31.1	31.2	31.6	31.6	31.9	32.5	33.6	31.2	31.4
	Females		no.	29.1	29.3	29.4	29.3	29.5	30.0	30.2	29.1	29.3
Previous marital status
	First marriage both partners		no.	30 214	21 212	17 631	5 685	8 833	1 600	595	1 092	86 862
	First marriage one partner		no.	6 950	4 600	4 515	1 374	2 165	360	197	255	20 416
	Remarriage both partners		no.	4 556	3 132	3 414	1 056	1 667	369	116	164	14 474
Marriage celebrants(e)
	Ministers of religion
		Number of marriages	no.	14 186	8 787	6 312	2 499	3 295	594	192	507	36 372
		Proportion of marriages	%	34.0	30.4	24.7	30.8	26.0	25.5	21.1	33.6	29.9
	Civil celebrants
		Number of marriages	no.	27 529	20 109	19 240	5 616	9 369	1 735	716	997	85 311
		Proportion of marriages	%	66.0	69.5	75.3	69.2	74.0	74.5	78.9	66.0	70.1
Relative birthplace of male and female(f)
	Both born in Australia		no.	21 913	15 567	15 716	5 317	6 140	1 827	517	885	67 882
	Both born in the same overseas country		no.	6 427	4 567	2 034	651	1 375	49	77	141	15 321
	Born in different countries		no.	13 357	8 805	7 808	2 147	5 118	453	314	485	38 487
Cohabitation prior to marriage
	Number of marriages		no.	29 954	22 221	21 833	6 633	10 529	2 038	745	1 275	95 228
	Proportion of marriages		%	71.8	76.8	85.4	81.7	83.1	87.5	82.0	84.4	78.2
(a) See Glossary for definitions of terms used.
(b) Care should be taken in interpreting these figures as marriage data is by State or Territory of registration rather than usual residence. See Explanatory Notes 23-24 for further information.
(c) Care should be taken in interpreting Tasmanian figures for 2011. See Explanatory Note 24 for further information.
(d) Marriages per 1,000 of estimated resident population at 30 June 2011. See Glossary and Explanatory Notes 32 and 38-40 for further information.
(e) 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, 2011 (ASCRG, cat 1266.0).
(f) Excludes marriages where country of birth of one or both partners is not stated.

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