On 26 November 2014, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) published data and information about marriages registered and divorces granted in Australia in 2013.

Although the resident population of Australia increased by 407,027 from 2012 to 2013, the number of people choosing to marry continues to decrease. Of the people who married in 2013, 76.6% of couples lived together prior to marriage (a 1% decrease from 2012).

The decline in the number of divorces granted in Australia continued in 2013. The crude divorce rate in 2013 was approximately 2.1 divorces per 1,000 estimated residents in Australia, a decrease from 2.2 divorces per 1.000 estimated residents in Australia in 2012.

The key points in the ABS findings:

Marriages

  1. The number of marriages in Australia decreased in 2013 by 3.5% (118,982 marriages registered, 4,282 less than in 2012).
  2. 81.3% of brides and 79.7% of grooms had not been married before.
  3. The median age at marriage was 31.5 years for males and 29.5 years for females, an increase of 0.1 years for both males and females since 2012.
  4. The trend of civil celebrants overseeing the majority of marriages continues, with 72.5% of all marriages conducted by a civil celebrant.

Divorces

  1. The number of divorces decreased by 4.6% (49,917 divorces granted in 2013, a decrease of 2,279 from 2012).
  2. Joint applications for divorce continued to be the highest applicant type for the fourth year in a row, with 19,625 divorces granted from joint applications, compared with 15,684 from female applicants and 12,329 from male applicants.
  3. The median age at divorce was 44.8 years for males and 42.2 years for females, an increase of 0.2 years for males and 0.4 years for females in 2012.
  4. The median duration from marriage to divorce was 12.1 years, slightly less than in 2012.
  5. Divorces involving children decreased by 1.4%, with 41,747 applications involving children, compared to 44,834 in 2012.
  6. The average number of children per divorce involving children was 1.8.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics – Marriages and Divorces

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