Returning to a single status is good if a couple’s relationship isn’t working out. Not every marriage has a happy ending like a fairy tale; most don’t.
Because the average marriage in Australia lasts 12.2 years, many people can understand how this person feels. However, it is necessary to consider the specific statistics and numbers associated with divorce.
We have compiled some statistics on divorce that are unique to Australia so that we can shed more light on the overall number of people who go through the process. Let’s have a look at what they are.
Divorce Statistics in Australia to Consider Before Getting Married
Before deciding to tie the knot in Australia, learning about the country’s divorce statistics is essential. Listed below are a few things that you should remember.
There were 49,116 divorces finalised in Australia in 2019, which corresponds to a divorce rate of 1.9 per 1,000 people in the country. In Australia, the median age for men to file for divorce was 45.9 years old, while the median age for women was 43.1 years old. The median length of marriage was 12.2 years.
However, in 2019, more than a quarter of all divorces in Australia could be attributed to a breakdown in communication, even though same-sex couples made up less than one per cent of all marriages that ended in divorce. In addition, approximately sixty per cent of second marriages in Australia ended in a divorce.
In 2019, there were 14,393 divorces finalised in New South Wales alone, which is an interesting statistic considering that most divorcing couples (9,970) had two children. Last but not least, in 2019, the divorce rate in Australia was roughly a third lower than in the United States.
Statistics on the Rate of Divorce in Australia
1. In 2019, the divorce rate in Australia was 1.9 for every 1,000 people in the population
The latest data on divorce rates in Australia show that the crude divorce rate has stayed between 1.9 and 2.0 per 1,000 people every year from 2014 through 2019. In 2019, Australia saw a crude marriage rate of 4.5 per 1,000 residents.
2. In 2019, Australia was home to 49,116 divorces that were finalised
According to the most recent statistics provided by the ABS, just under 50,000 divorces were finalised in 2019 out of a total of 113,815 registered marriages. This represents a divorce rate of less than half the rate of registered unions.
3. In 2019, the median age of men getting divorced in Oz was 45.9 years, while the median age of women getting divorced was 43.1 years
In 2019, the median age of divorce for men was 42 years old, while the median age for women was 39.3 years old. Around 29.4 years old was the median age for men when they divorced, while 27.1 years old was the median age for women.
4. In 2019, the highest divorce rate, 9.3 per 1,000 people, was seen among males aged 45 to 49
In Australia, most divorces occur between the ages of 40 and 50, with the highest rates seen in men in their mid to late 40s and women in their early to mid-40s. Women had a higher crude divorce rate among those under 45, while men had a higher rate among all other age groups.
5. The average length of time an Australian marriage lasts before ending in divorce is 12.2 years
The average duration of an Australian marriage before divorce is 8.5 years. The divorce is finalised three to four years after the initial separation, for over a dozen years.
6. In 2019, less than one per cent of all divorces in Australia were filed by couples of the same sexual orientation
Only 104 marriages between people of the same gender ended in 2019, with 34 occurring between men and 70 occurring between women.
7. The median age of men getting married in 2019 was 32.3 years, while the median age of women getting married was 30.5 years old
People in Australia are now marrying in their early 30s on average, a significant increase from 20 years ago when the average age at marriage was in their late 20s.
In the United States of America in 2018, the median age of marriage for men was 29.8 years, while the median age of marriage for women was 27.8 years.
8. Over one-quarter of Australian couples divorce due to communication issues.
According to surveys conducted in Australia, the following are the most frequently cited causes of divorce:
- 27% of married couples reported having trouble communicating.
- In 21% of marriages, there was a break in the connection between the couple.
- According to the statistics on infidelity in Australia, twenty per cent of marriages end in divorce because one partner cheats or trust issues arise.
- Abuse of a spouse, either physically or emotionally, was a factor in the divorce of 7.4% of married couples.
- Problems with drugs and alcohol were the cause of divorce in 7.4% of all failed marriages.
- In Australia, couples had financial issues as the primary cause of divorce for 4.7% of married couples.
- According to the statistics on divorce in Australia, physical and mental health issues are responsible for the breakup of 4.7% of couples.
- The demands of work and family time led to the divorce of 2.7% of married couples.
- Only 0.6% of marriages ended in divorce due to interference from other members of the same family.
9. It is estimated that approximately sixty per cent of second marriages in Australia end in divorce.
In 16% of divorced couples in Australia, at least one of the partners had been married before, and 12% of those couples had been married.
In turn, the divorce rate among newlyweds who had just married for the first time in 2016 was 30%, which means that the divorce rate for second marriages in Australia is double that of first unions. Unhappily, the likelihood of divorce in a second or third marriage is higher than in the first marriage.
10. Because of Covid, the number of marriages in Australia in the first half of 2020 will drop by more than thirty per cent.
The number of people getting married in Australia has dropped significantly compared to the number of weddings in the years before the coronavirus outbreak. In Australia, the annual average number of marriages is approximately 55,000. Still, during the first half of the year 2020, there were only 38,000, which is a decrease of nearly one-third from the previous year’s levels.
Additionally, there was a rise in the number of marriages that ended in divorce. 55% of people had problems because of their living arrangements, and 42% reported that the lockdowns had strained their relationships, resulting in more separations than usual.
11. In 2019, 9,174 divorces in Australia involved only one child.
The highest number of parents who divorced in 2019 had an only child who was 16 years old; 900 families in this situation ended their marriage. Despite this, there were only 44 divorces among the parents of infants with less than a year between them.
12. Most separated couples in Australia, or 9,970, were parents to two offspring.
Australia’s 2019 statistics show that nearly 10,000 married couples with two children have filed for divorce. The youngest child involved in a divorce was seven years old. In contrast, only 20 marriages involving two adults and one child, with the younger of the two children being 17 years old, ended in divorce.
13. In 2019, 3,103 cases of couples with three children went through the divorce process.
According to the statistics on relationships in Australia, the highest number of divorces occurred in marriages with three children when the youngest child was seven years old. This was the age at which the youngest child was the youngest.
On the other hand, the number of divorces that occurred among people with three children was lowest among those whose youngest child was 11 years old or younger. In addition, there were no divorce cases between couples in which the youngest child was 17.
14. Six hundred sixty-four divorces in Australia in 2019 involved couples with at least four children.
In 2019, people with four children, the youngest seven years old, had the highest divorce rate (95). There were six divorces in a family with four children, the youngest of which was 13. However, there were no divorces between parents with children 15 years or younger.
15. In 2019, there were 158 cases of divorce involving a family with five or more children.
The number of couples in Australia with five or more children is relatively small, likely contributing to the country’s low divorce rate. In 2019, there were a total of 26 divorces that occurred between individuals who had children who were four years old or younger than their youngest child.
There were three divorces among the parents in this group, all of whom had children under 11 at the time. None of the families where the youngest child was 12 or older, 13 or older, 15 or older, or 16 or older disintegrated.
16. In 2019, 14,393 divorces were finalised in New South Wales.
According to statistics compiled in Australia, the divorce rate in New South Wales in 2019 was 1.8 cases for every 1,000 residents. The typical length of time spent married before filing for divorce was 11.4. During that year, New South Wales had 6,448 divorces involving children.
17. There were 11,861 divorces finalised in Victoria in 2019.
Statistics show that there were 1.8 divorces per 1,000 people in Victoria in 2019, making the state’s crude divorce rate that number. Children were involved in nearly half of all divorces that year, totalling 5,477 cases. In Victoria, a married couple’s typical relationship length was 11.9 years.
18. In 2019, 11,575 divorces were granted in Queensland.
In 2019, 5,762 of the divorces finalised in Queensland involved the participation of a child or children. The median marriage duration was 13 years, and the overall divorce rate was 2.3 per 1,000 people.
19. In Southern Australia in 2019, there were 19 3394 divorces that were finalised.
In 2019, 1.9 marriages ended in divorce for every 1,000 residents in South Australia. The total number of children born to South African couples divorced that year was 1,640. The typical time a couple remained married before filing for divorce was 12.9 years.
20. In 2019, 5,145 divorces were finalised in Western Australia.
The divorce rate in Western Australia in 2019 was a crude 2 per 1,000 people, according to statistics provided by the ABS regarding the state’s divorce rate. The typical duration of a marriage before the couple separated was 12.6 years. In approximately half of all divorces in the state of Washington, or 2,442, minor children were involved.
21. The year 2019 saw 985 marriages in Tasmania end in divorce.
In Tasmania, the rate of divorce in 2019 was 1.8 per 1,000 residents. The median length of time a married couple stayed together before divorcing was 13.8 years, and more than half of all divorces that year, or 476, involved children.
22. In 2019, there were a total of 369 divorces finalised in the Northern Territory.
According to the divorce rates in Australia, the Northern Territory had the fewest marriages that ended in divorce in 2019, with approximately one-third (156) involving children. There was a rate of 1.5 divorces per 1,000 people, and the median time couples stayed married was 10.8 years.
23. In 2019, 1,394 divorces were finalised in the Australian Capital Territory.
There were children involved in 668 of the ACT’s divorces in 2019. The median length of marriage before the divorce was 12.2 years, the same as the average length of marriage in the United States. The median length of marriage before separation was 8.9 years.
24. How exactly does one go about getting a divorce in Australia?
Getting a divorce in Australia requires permanent residence, citizenship by birth or naturalisation, and residency in Australia for at least a year before filing for divorce.
This is the case regardless of whether you are married in the country or outside.
You can submit your request for a divorce through our website by filling out the Divorce Application and paying the filing fee. There are two different kinds of applications: sole applications and joint applications.
In the case of the Sole Application, you will take on the applicant’s role, while the other party will play the respondent. If, on the other hand, you submit what is known as a Joint Application, then the two of you will be considered joint applicants.
25. To file for divorce from a partner in Australia, you must have lived apart from them for at least one year.
Since 1975, when it was first made acceptable, divorces in Australia can be filed regardless of who was at fault in the relationship. If you and your spouse have been living apart for a year and a day, and neither intends to remarry, the court will likely grant your request to dissolve your marriage.
If minor children are involved, the divorce cannot be finalised until proper custody is established and both parties have established visitation arrangements.
26. The rate of divorce in Australia in 2019 was approximately one-third of what it was in the United States.
When we compare the divorce rate in Australia to statistics on the divorce rate from other countries, we find that there are significant differences. For instance, in 2019, the divorce rate in the United States was significantly higher than in Australia, which was 1.9 per 1,000 people in Australia and 2.7 per 1,000 people in the United States.
27. In Europe in 2018, the countries of Malta and Slovenia had the lowest divorce rates.
According to the most recent statistics, Malta and Slovenia are tied for last place on the list of European countries regarding the percentage of marriages that end in divorce. Remarkably, Malta had only 0.7 divorces per 1,000 people in 2018, especially considering that the country has one of the youngest average ages at first marriage in the world.
Compared to other countries like Lithuania, Latvia, and Luxembourg, where the divorce rate was 3.1 divorces per 1,000 people, the divorce rate in Slovenia was low at 1.2 per 1,000 people in the same year. Slovenia also had a relatively low divorce rate during that year.
Before You Continue
Throughout Australia’s recent divorce history, the basic divorce rate has stayed reasonably stable. The lockdowns may have been the last straw that caused some couples to break up, or they may have forced them to work out their differences.
The fact that the number of marriages is significantly higher than the number of divorces is a statistic that is of the utmost importance. The number of single Australians is expected to grow as the divorce rate, and other marriage problems continue to rise.
We hope that these statistics on divorce in Australia have shown you that the end of a marriage does not have to be the worst thing that could happen in the world.