DIVORCE rates are at their lowest level since the mid-1970s, according to a new report by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS), drawing on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

In 2023 there were 2.3 divorces per 1,000 residents aged 16 and over, which continues the downward trend since the start of the millennium, when divorce rates were at 3.4 per 1,000 adult residents.

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A second AIFS report shows that the trend of men and women marrying at a later age has continued.

Women now marry at 30 years and men at 31 (median) – around eight years older than their counterparts were marrying in 1975.

Senior Research Fellow at AIFS, Dr Lixia Qu, said a gradual drop in the marriage rate, people marrying at a later age, and more couples living together before marriage, is all contributing to the decline in divorce.

“These days most couples live together before getting married – if they marry at all – which was unusual 50 years ago.

“Being able to ‘try before you buy’ was less of an option for young couples in the 1970s and earlier, due to stigma and societal expectations,” Dr Qu said.

Dr Qu said the decline in divorce does not necessarily indicate longer lasting relationships than used to be the case.

“In 2023, 83 percent of couples had been living together before marriage, compared to just 16% in 1975.

“Many couples separate without entering into marriage, which is not captured in the divorce statistics,” Dr Qu said.

The age at divorce has also risen for both men and women.

In 2023 the median age at divorce was 47 years for men and 44 years for women – up from early 30s across both genders in 1980.

Other key data on marriages and divorces in Australia, from AIFS’ latest reports:

● While in 1970, 88 percent of marriages were performed by ministers of religion, in 2023 that flipped to 83 percent of marriages being performed by civil celebrants.

● Almost four percent of all marriages are same-gender couples – with female same-gender marriages outnumbering male same-gender marriages (two percent and 1.5 percent of all marriages).

● People who marry at a younger age are more likely to divorce. For men the highest divorce rate is between 25-29 years, and for women it is 24 years and under, and 25-29 years.

● Couples that divorce are doing so later; those married for 20 or more years made up more than one-quarter of divorces in 2021 – whereas in the 1980s they only made up one in five divorces.

● The median duration of marriage for divorcing couples over the last decade (2020-21) was around 12 years, and the median duration of marriage to separation was around 8.5 years – meaning it took around 3-4 years from separation for couples to finalise their divorce.

More in the full reports: (available on request)

● Marriages in Australia – Facts and Figures 2024

● Divorces in Australia – Facts and Figures 2024

AIFS conducts original research to increase understanding of Australian families and the issues that affect them; see aifs.gov.au