Data use considerations
The Registered marital status variable provides data about a person's current registered marital status, regardless of their reported relationship to another person in their household. During the time of the Census the following instructions were available on the Census website to help people answer the registered marital status question.
- If the person is a child and therefore not married, select ‘Never married’.
- If the person is divorced or widowed and has remarried, select ‘Married’.
- If the person is divorced and has not remarried, select ‘Divorced’, even if the person lives in a de facto relationship.
- If the person is in a de facto relationship and has not been in a registered marriage, select ‘Never married’.
- If the person is in a traditional Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander marriage, select ‘Married’.
Information on de facto relationships is derived from responses to the Relationship in household question and output in the Social marital status (MDCP) variable.
Due to the amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 in 2017, all couples are able to identify as being in registered marriages. While the categories for the variable have not changed, more people are in scope of category 5 - Married.
Using the Imputation Flag for Registered Marital Status (IFMSTP), the non-response rate for Registered marital status (MSTP) was 5.5% in 2021. This is a decrease from 6.9% in 2016. For more information on imputation, see 2021 Census methodology.
