This article contains data from the 2006 Census of Population and Housing, conducted on 8 August 2006, and presents details on social marital status and family composition in households for: Australian Capital Territory (ACT); the Local Government Area (LGA) of Queanbeyan; and Australia as a whole. For comparison, data from the 1996 and 2001 Censuses have also been included.


Social marital status

In the 2006 Census, 48.9% (113,867 persons) of ACT residents aged 15 and over reported that they were in a registered marriage and 9.8% (22,895 persons) were recorded as being in a de facto marriage.

In Queanbeyan, 48.9% (12,360 persons) of residents reported being in a registered marriage and 10.3% (2,606 persons) in a de facto marriage.

Nationally, 50.4% of persons were in a registered marriage and 8.8% in a de facto marriage.

Between 1996 and 2006 the proportion of ACT residents in a registered marriage declined from 52.4% (Census 1996) to 48.9% (Census 2006). The decline in registered marriages was mostly offset by increases in the proportion of persons in de facto marriages: 6.7% (Census 1996) to 9.8% (Census 2006).

For Australia as a whole, the proportion of residents aged 15 and over who reported that they were in a registered marriage fell from 54.1% (Census 1996) to 50.4% (Census 2006) – a bigger fall than for either the ACT or Queanbeyan. The proportion of residents in a de facto marriage rose from 6.0% in 1996 to 8.8% in 2006.



Family Composition

In the 2006 Census, there were 84,509 families in the ACT. Of these, 47.0% were couple families with children and 36.2% were couple families with no children. In comparison, of the 76,350 ACT families identified in the 1996 Census, 52.6% were couple families with children and 30.7% were couple families without children. The proportion of one parent families remained relatively constant over the three Censuses, 1996, 2001 and 2006.

Of the 9,362 Queanbeyan families in the 2006 Census, 49.2% (4,608 families) were couple families with children, down from 50.7% in the 1996 Census. The proportion of couple families with no children was 32.9% (3,078 families) in the 2006 Census, up from 31.8% in 1996.

For Australia as a whole, the proportion of couple families with children declined to 45.3% (Census 2006) of total families, from 49.6% (Census 1996). The proportion of couple families with no children increased to 37.2% (Census 2006) from 34.1% (Census 1996).



Average family size

In the 2006 Census the average family size in the ACT was 2.9 persons, down from 3.1 in 1996 – the same as the national average.

In Queanbeyan, the average family size was 3.0 persons in the 2006 Census – the same as in 2001 – down from 3.1 in 1996.



Further information

A wide range of first release 2006 Census data is available from the ABS website Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census Data, which includes additional information on family composition, relationship of persons in households and the social marital status of couples. The information can be viewed in the format of tables, thematic maps, or graphs via the online options of QuickStats, MapStats, Census Tables and Community Profiles.

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