In 2023, the highest divorce rate by age and gender in Australia was represented by both females and males aged 45 to 49 years old with a rate of 8.9 divorces per 1,000 resident population. Men over the age of 45 generally had a higher divorce rate than women in the same age group and conversely, women displayed a higher divorce rate than men in the all age categories under 45.

In 2021, the crude divorce rate in Queensland, Australia was 2.6 per 1,000 resident population. In contrast, the divorce rate in the Northern Territory was 1.8 per 1,000 resident population.

In 2022, the crude divorce rate in Australia was at 2.4 divorces per 1,000 of the population. The divorce rate rose steeply between 1901 and 1980, peaking in 2001 with over 55,000 divorces in total. In the year 2021, it was close to this number again, with a rate of 2.7 divorces per 1,000.

Just under 49 thousand divorces were granted in Australia in 2023. The annual number of divorces rose steeply between 1901 and 1995.

Pooling microdata from five Australian censuses, I explore the relationship between child gender and divorce. By contrast with the United States, I find no evidence that the gender of the first child has a significant impact on the decision to marry or divorce. However, among two-child families, parents with two children of the same sex are 1.7 percentage points less likely to be married than parents with a boy and a girl. Surveys of parental attitudes suggest that this effect is more likely to be driven by fathers than by mothers. This finding is not consistent with theories of preference for sons over daughters, differential costs, role models or complementary costs, but is consistent with a theory of parity preference.

In 2021, 47.8 percent of all divorces that were granted in Australia involved children, a slight decrease from the previous year. According to the source, children include unmarried children of the marriage who were aged under 18 years at the time of application for divorce.

In 2016, crude divorce rates were highest in Kazakhstan which was estimated at around ***** divorces per thousand people. Crude divorce rates were highest in Korea and Australia in year 2000, each amounting to around 2.6 divorces per thousand people.

The average age at which Australians got married for the first time increased for both men and women between 1997 and 2021. As of 2021, males who married for the first time were on average 30.8 years old, while females were on average slightly younger at 29.4 years old.

first time marriage

Wedding bells chime

The most popular months to get married in 2017 were October and November, with many Australians opting to have their wedding in spring. In fact, over 20 percent of couples chose their wedding date based on a preference for a specific season.

In 2017, amendments to the Marriage Act meant that same-sex couples in Australia could also get legally married. This may change marriage figures in the years immediately following, with many long-term same-sex couples choosing to get married with this law change.

Happily ever after?

While the average age of first marriages has increased, the number of Australians tying the knot has decreased, with the crude marriage rate decreasing continuously across the country. The divorce rate has decreased over the years, largely related to the reduction in the number of marriages overall. In 2017, almost half of all divorces in Australia involved children; this share has not changed significantly over the past five years.

In 2021, the median length from marriage to separation in Australia was 8.4 years. In the same year, the median duration of marriage to divorce was 12.2 years.

In 2023, approximately 118,439 marriages were registered in Australia. This marked a slight decrease in the number of marriages across the country compared to the previous year.

In 2022, the average female age at marriage was 27.5 years in Australia. The average at separation from their married partner was 39.8 years, and for divorce, the average age was 43.7 years.