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NOTES


MARRIAGES AND DIVORCES, AUSTRALIA

The Marriages and Divorces, Australia, 2011 (cat. no. 3310.0) product provides data and information about marriages registered and divorces granted in Australia in 2011. Data is presented on a State or Territory of registration basis rather than a State or Territory of usual residence basis. Explanatory Notes 23 to 30 provide further information.

Marriage statistics presented in this electronic product present data at the State, Territory and national level 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 data regarding 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.

Detailed marriage and divorce tables are available in the data cubes which can be accessed through the 'Downloads' tab at the top of this page. Explanatory notes, abbreviations and a glossary of terms can be accessed through the 'Explanatory Notes' tab.

This product replaces both Marriages, Australia (cat. no. 3306.0.55.001) and Divorces, Australia (cat. no. 3307.0.55.001) from 2008 onwards. Marriage data between 2003 and 2007 can be found in the electronic product Marriages, Australia (cat. no. 3306.0.55.001) and divorce data between 2002 and 2007 can be found in the electronic product Divorces, Australia (cat. no. 3307.0.55.001).


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.


SUMMARY COMMENTARY


SUMMARY COMMENTARY

MARRIAGES

In 2011, there were 121,752 marriages registered in Australia, an increase of 576 (0.5%) from the 121,176 marriages registered in 2010.

Despite the increase in the number of marriages, the crude marriage rate for 2011 is unchanged from 2010, remaining at 5.4 marriages per 1,000 estimated resident population.

The median age of males and females at marriage was 31.4 and 29.3 years respectively in 2011. The median age at marriage for males in 2011 remains the same as was reported in 2010, while the female median age at marriage increased by 0.1 years.

The proportion of marriage ceremonies performed by civil celebrants has continued to increase in 2011, with civil celebrants performing 70.1% of all registered marriage ceremonies, an increase from 69.2% in 2010.

Couples who lived together prior to marriage accounted for 78.2% of all marriages registered in 2011, a slight decrease from the 78.6% registered in 2010.

The proportion of marriages where both partners married for the first time increased again in 2011, to 71.3% of all marriages. Marriages where only one partner was marrying for the first time has generally been decreasing over time, despite this an increase was reported in 2011, up to 16.8% from 16.6% reported in 2010. The proportion of marriages which are remarriages for both partners, continues to decrease over the time series, decreasing to 11.9% of all marriages in 2011 from 12.1% in 2010.

In 2011, 55.8% of couples married were both born in Australia, 31.6% were born in different countries, and 12.6% were born in the same overseas country.

1.1 Selected marriage indicators(a), Australia - Selected years - 1991-2011
				1991	2001	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Marriages registered			no.	113 905	103 130	116 322	118 756	120 118	121 176	121 752
Crude marriage rate(b)				7.6	5.3	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.4	5.4
Median age at marriage
	Males		years	28.4	30.6	31.6	31.5	31.4	31.4	31.4
	Females		years	26.0	28.6	29.3	29.3	29.2	29.2	29.3
Previous marital status
	First marriage both partners		no.	77 640	68 987	80 347	82 847	84 780	86 330	86 862
	First marriage one partner		no.	20 488	18 889	20 023	19 969	20 107	20 128	20 416
	Remarriage both partners		no.	15 777	15 254	15 952	15 940	15 231	14 718	14 474
Marriage celebrant
	Ministers of religion(c)
		Number of marriages	no.	71 063	48 372	43 077	41 545	39 740	37 251	36 372
		Proportion of marriages	%	62.4	46.9	37.0	35.0	33.1	30.7	29.9
	Civil celebrants
		Number of marriages	no.	42 842	54 758	73 187	77 142	80 340	83 800	85 311
		Proportion of marriages	%	37.6	53.1	62.9	64.9	66.9	69.2	70.1
Relative birthplace of male and female(d)
	Both born in Australia		no.	71 878	64 373	70 347	70 521	69 643	68 588	67 882
	Both born in the same overseas country		no.	9 008	8 611	11 101	12 460	14 210	14 585	15 321
	Born in different countries		no.	32 977	30 130	34 759	35 629	36 185	37 925	38 487
Cohabitation prior to marriage
	Number of marriages		no.	na	74 244	89 364	92 220	92 978	95 194	95 228
	Proportion of marriages		%	na	72.0	76.8	77.6	77.4	78.6	78.2
na not available
(a) See Glossary for definitions of terms used.
(b) Marriages per 1,000 of estimated resident population at 30 June for each reference year respectively. See Glossary and Explanatory Notes 32 and 38-40 for further information.
(c) 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).
(d) Excludes marriages where country of birth of one or both partners is not stated.

1.2 Selected divorce indicators, Australia, Selected years - 1991-2011
			1991	2001	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Divorces granted		no.	45 652	55 330	47 963	47 209	49 448	50 240	48 935
Crude divorce rate(a)			2.6	2.8	2.3	2.2	2.3	2.3	2.2
Divorces involving children(b)
	Proportion of all divorces	%	54.2	51.2	49.3	48.8	49.1	49.5	48.3
	Number of children	no.	46 708	53 396	44 371	43 184	45 195	46 337	43 867
Median age at divorce
	Males	years	38.4	41.8	44.2	44.1	44.4	44.4	44.5
	Females	years	35.5	39.1	41.3	41.4	41.5	41.5	41.7
Median length of marriage
	To separation	years	7.4	8.3	8.9	8.8	8.7	8.8	8.7
	To divorce	years	10.3	11.8	12.5	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.2
Applicant(c)
	Male	no.	16 427	16 608	13 216	12 979	13 236	13 215	12 924
	Female	no.	22 066	26 035	18 571	17 617	18 149	18 083	17 439
	Joint	no.	7 159	12 687	16 172	16 613	18 063	18 941	18 572
(a) Number of divorces per 1,000 estimated resident population at 30 June for each reference year respectively. See Glossary and Explanatory Notes 32 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 where type of applicant is not stated.