Marriages and Divorces
CONTACT
Assistant Director
Demography
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Telephone (02) 6252 6557
Facsimile (02) 6252 7494
DESCRIPTION
Statistics on marriages registered in Australia are compiled from information provided by the Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages in each State and Territory and on divorces from the Family Court of Australia. Marriage and divorce statistics provide a valuable tool to examine family formation and dissolution, as well as helping to quantify the number of children involved in these events.
Statistics from these collections, together with the marital status of the estimated resident population, are published in Marriages and Divorces, Australia (cat. no. 3310.0). While the main emphasis of the publication is registered marital status (i.e. never married, married including separated, widowed and divorced) the growing importance of de facto marriages is also recognised. The publication includes statistics on pre-marriage cohabitation and estimates of the de facto married population. Each edition usually contains a feature article focusing on an issue related to marriage and/or divorce.
SCOPE
All marriages registered in Australia and divorces granted in Australia.
DISSEMINATION
Publications
Marriages and Divorces, Australia (cat. no. 3310.0).
Data Service
Customised unpublished data are available in a variety of formats.
Data Details
Data are available for every registered marriage and divorce granted.
Marriages: Characteristics of the marriage
Date of marriage
Category of celebrant
Marriages: Characteristics of the bridegroom and bride
Date of birth
Country of birth
Period of residence in Australia if born overseas
Parent's country of birth
Age at marriage
Previous registered marital status
Premarriage cohabitation
Number of previous marriages
Number of children of previous marriages
Year of birth of youngest child
Number of children under 16 years at time of marriage
Year of celebration of last marriage
Year of termination of last marriage
Year of first previous marriage
Divorces: Characteristics of the divorce
Sex of applicant
Date of marriage, separation and divorce
Duration of marriage to separation and divorce
Divorces: Characteristics of the husband and wife
Date of birth
Country of birth
Age at marriage, separation and divorce
Number of children under 18 years
Age of youngest child of the marriage under 18 years
Population estimates
Age
Sex
Registered marital status
Special articles include:
Families in Australia, 1994.
How many marriages end in divorce? Recent trends, 1994.
Trends in de facto partnering 1995.
Age at first marriage, 1996.
Registered marital status and living arrangements, 1997.
Couple relationships at the 1996 Census of Population and Housing, 1997.
Remarriage trends of divorced people, 1998.
GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE
Australia, States and Territories.
FREQUENCY OF COLLECTION
Annual.
METHOD OF COLLECTION
Administrative by-product.
HISTORICAL DATA
First issue 1994.
This information was previously released in Marriages, Australia (Cat. no. 3306.0) - issued annually to 1993 (First issue: 1964); Divorces, Australia (Cat. no. 3307.0) - issued annually to 1993 (First issue: 1961); and Estimated Resident Population by Marital Status, Age and Sex, Australia (cat. no. 3220.0) - issued annually to 1994 (First issued: 1976 then 1981 to 1994).
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