3 - Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council

DivorceAlmost 49,000 divorces were granted in 2011—a rate of 2.2 per 1,000 population (Table 1.7). Thecrude divorce rate has been generally falling since 2001, when it was 2.8 per 1,000 population.The 2011 rate of 2.2 per 1,000 population (also recorded in 2008) is the lowest since theintroduction of the Family Law Act 1975 which changed the grounds under which divorce couldbe granted (ABS 2009).Just under half (48%) of all divorces in 2011 occurred between couples with children aged under18, a decrease from 54% in 1991. However, the average number of children per divorce hasremained steady since 1991, at 1.9 (ABS 2012l).The two decades to 2011 saw an increase in the median duration of marriage (from date ofmarriage registration to divorce) from 10.3 to 12.2 years. Meanwhile, the median age at divorcerose by 6 years for both men and women (from 38.4 to 44.5 and from 35.5 to 41.7 respectively) inthe same period.Table 1.7: Selected divorce indicators, 1991 to 2011 (selected years)1991 2001 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011Number of divorces 45,652 55,330 47,963 47,209 49,448 50,240 48,935Crude divorce rate (a) 2.6 2.8 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.2Median duration of marriage (b) (years) 10.3 11.8 12.5 12.3 12.3 12.3 12.2Divorces involving children (c) (%) 54.2 51.2 49.3 48.8 49.1 49.5 48.3Median age at divorce (years)Males 38.4 41.8 44.2 44.1 44.4 44.4 44.5Females 35.5 39.1 41.3 41.4 41.5 41.5 41.7(a)(b)(c)Number of divorces per 1,000 estimated resident population at 30 June of each year.Median duration of the marriage to divorce (decree made absolute).Unmarried children of the marriage who were aged under 18 at the time of application for divorce.Source: ABS 2012l.Same-sex couple familiesAccording to the 2011 Census, there were 33,714 same-sex couples on Census night, with themajority identifying as de facto partners (96%). The remaining 4% identified as the husbandor wife of someone of the same sex. These couples may have been married in a country otherthan Australia, registered their relationship under state or territory law, been through a privateceremony, or regard the term ‘married’ to be the most appropriate term to describe theirrelationship (ABS 2012p).Most same-sex couples lived together without children or other relatives in their family (86%),although just over 1 in 10 (12%) had children (of any age including adults) living with them intheir family. There were 6,120 children under the age of 25 in same-sex couple families, of whom78% were under the age of 15 (ABS 2012p). Female same-sex couples were 7 times as likely asmale same-sex couples to have children in their family (22% versus 3%).1Australia’s welfare 2013 39