3310.0 - Marriages and Divorces, Australia, 2010 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 30/11/2011   
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NOTES


MARRIAGES AND DIVORCES, AUSTRALIA

The Marriages and Divorces, Australia, 2010 (cat. no. 3310.0) product provides data and information about marriages registered and divorces granted in Australia in 2010. Data is presented on a State or Territory of registration basis rather than a state or territory of usual residence basis. Explanatory Notes 24-30 provide further information.

Marriage statistics presented in this electronic product present data at the state or territory and national level on the number of marriages registered, crude marriage rates, median age at marriage, age-specific marriage rates, previous marital status, marriage celebrants, country of birth of those marrying, and living arrangements for couples prior to marriage.

Divorce statistics in this publication provide state or territory and national data about 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 2010, there were 121,176 marriages registered in Australia, an increase of 1,058 (0.9%) from the 120,118 marriages registered in 2009.

Despite the increase in the number of marriages, the crude marriage rate has decreased to 5.4 marriages per 1,000 estimated resident population. This is the first drop in the crude marriage rate since 2006.

The median age of males and females at marriage was 31.4 and 29.2 years respectively in 2010, which is 0.1 less for males and the same rate for females from 2009.

The proportion of marriage ceremonies performed by civil celebrants has continued to increase in 2010, with civil celebrants performing 69.2% of all registered marriage ceremonies, an increase from 66.9% in 2009.

Couples who lived together prior to marriage accounted for 78.6% of all marriages registered in 2010, compared to 77.4% in 2009.

The proportions of females and males who married for the first time in 2010 continued to increase. In 2010, 78.7% of males and 80.4% of females were marrying for the first time.

In 2010, 56.6% of couples married were both born in Australia, 31.3% were born in different countries, and 12.0% were born in the same overseas country.

1.1 Selected marriage indicators(a), Australia - Selected years - 1990-2010
1990
2000
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Marriages registered no.
116 959
113 429
114 222
116 322
118 756
120 118
121 176
Crude marriage rate(b)
6.9
5.9
5.5
5.5
5.5
5.5
5.4
Median age at marriage
Males years
28.2
30.3
31.6
31.6
31.6
31.5
31.4
Females years
25.9
28.3
29.3
29.3
29.3
29.2
29.2
Previous marital status
First marriage both partners no.
78 782
75 503
78 178
80 347
82 847
84 780
86 330
First marriage one partner no.
21 597
21 185
20 122
20 023
19 969
20 107
20 128
Remarriage both partners no.
16 580
16 741
15 922
15 952
15 940
15 231
14 718
Marraige celebrant
Ministers of religion(c)
Number of marriages no.
67 704
53 521
44 117
43 077
41 545
39 740
37 251
Proportion of marriages %
57.9
47.2
38.6
37.0
35.0
33.1
30.7
Civil celebrants
Number of marriages no.
49 255
59 908
70 105
73 187
77 142
80 340
83 800
Proportion of marriages %
42.1
52.8
61.4
62.9
64.9
66.9
69.2
Relative birthplace of male and female(d)
Both born in Australia no.
72 403
72 122
69 710
70 347
70 521
69 643
68 588
Both born in the same overseas country no.
9 597
9 262
10 334
11 101
12 460
14 210
14 585
Born in different countries no.
34 917
32 032
34 126
34 759
35 629
36 185
37 925
Cohabitation prior to marriage
Number of marriages no.
na
80 893
86 937
89 364
92 220
92 978
95 194
Proportion of marriages %
na
71.3
76.1
76.8
77.6
77.4
78.6
na not available
(a) See Glossary for definitions of terms used.
(b) Marriages per 1,000 of estimated resident population at 30 June. See Glossary and explanatory Notes 39 and 46 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, 1996 (ASCRG, cat 1266.0).
(d) Excludes marriages where country of birth of one or both partners is not stated.



DIVORCES

In 2010, there were 50,240 divorces granted in Australia, an increase of 792 from 2009. This is the second year in a row the number of divorces granted has increased.

The crude divorce rate was 2.3 divorces per 1,000 estimated resident population, the same as the rate recoded in 2009.

The median age of males and females at divorce was 44.4 and 41.5 years respectively in 2010. Median ages in 2010 remain the same as those reported for males and females in 2009.

In 2010, divorces involving children represented 49.5% of all divorces granted compared to 49.1% in 2009. The number of children involved in divorces totalled 46,337, an increase from the 45,195 reported in 2009. The average number of children per divorce involving children was 1.86, the same as 2009.

The median duration between marriage and divorce in 2010 was 12.3 years, unchanged since 2008, but a decrease from the 2005 peak of 12.6 years.

Over the last 20 years, the proportion of divorces granted as result of joint applications for divorce has generally been increasing. This has continued in 2010 to the point where joint applicants are the highest applicant type for the first time ever with 18,941 divorces granted from joint applications.

1.2 Selected divorce indicators, Australia, Selected years - 1990-2010
1990
2000
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Divorces granted no.
42 635
49 906
51 375
47 963
47 209
49 448
50 240
Crude divorce rate(a)
2.5
2.6
2.5
2.3
2.2
2.3
2.3
Divorces involving children(b)
Proportion of all divorces %
55.6
52.7
50.1
49.3
48.8
49.1
49.5
Number of children no.
44 900
49 600
48 396
44 371
43 184
45 195
46 337
Median age at divorce
Males years
38.2
41.4
43.9
44.2
44.1
44.4
44.4
Females years
35.3
38.6
41.1
41.3
41.4
41.5
41.5
Median length of marriage
To separation years
7.5
8.2
8.9
8.9
8.8
8.7
8.8
To divorce years
10.2
11.6
12.5
12.5
12.3
12.3
12.3
Applicant(c)
Male no.
15 748
15 348
15 171
13 216
12 979
13 236
13 215
Female no.
20 961
24 595
20 574
18 571
17 617
18 149
18 083
Joint no.
5 926
9 963
15 582
16 172
16 613
18 063
18 941
(a) Number of divorces per 1,000 estimated resident population at 30 June. See Glossary and Explanatory Notes 39 and 46 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.