STATE AND TERRITORY DATA

Divorce statistics in this publication are presented by the State or Territory where the court granting divorce was located, rather than the State of usual residence of the applicants. The ABS advises caution in the interpretation of data at a State or Territory level as applicants for divorce may apply through their nearest court rather than a court in their State or Territory of usual residence. Refer to Explanatory Notes 26-31 for more information.

In 2009 the number of divorces granted in all States and Territories increased compared with 2008, with the largest increase occurring in New South Wales by 703 (5.1%) to 14,617, Victoria by 537 (4.6%) to 12,160, and Queensland by 559 (5.3%) to 11,174.

2.9 NUMBER OF DIVORCES, by jurisdiction - Selected years - 1989-2009
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT	Aust.
1989	12 743	10 253	7 123	3 740	4 089	1 269	262	1 346	41 383
1999	15 470	12 742	11 467	4 301	5 301	1 391	409	1 485	52 566
2005	15 172	12 512	12 383	3 669	5 265	1 346	470	1 582	52 399
2006	14 482	12 110	12 175	3 913	5 544	1 233	426	1 491	51 375
2007	13 726	11 833	11 058	3 534	4 932	1 127	417	1 333	47 963
2008	13 914	11 623	10 615	3 466	4 718	1 154	367	1 351	47 209
2009	14 617	12 160	11 174	3 663	4 767	1 215	433	1 419	49 448

Queensland had the highest crude divorce rate with 2.5 divorces per 1,000 estimated resident population, while the Northern Territory had the lowest divorce rate at 1.9%.

Tasmania and South Australia had the highest proportion of all divorces which involved children at 56.5% and 51.8% respectively, while Western Australia (44.5%) and New South Wales (47.6%) had the lowest proportion of divorces involving children.

Western Australia had the highest median age at divorce for both males and females at 45.5 years and 42.6 years respectively, while Northern Territory had the lowest median ages at divorce (43.2 years for males and 39.9 years for females).

Tasmania had the highest median length of marriage prior to divorce (13.5 years), while Northern Territory had the shortest median length of marriage to divorce (10.3 years).

In 2009, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory all recorded more joint applications for divorce than male or female only applications.

2.10 SELECTED DIVORCE INDICATORS, States and territories(a) - 2009
			NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT	Aust.(b)
Divorces granted		no.	14 617	12 160	11 174	3 663	4 767	1 215	433	1 419	49 448
Crude divorce rate(c)			2.0	2.2	2.5	2.3	2.1	2.4	1.9	4.0	2.3
Divorces involving children - Proportion of all divorces(d)		%	47.6	48.8	51.3	51.8	44.5	56.5	50.8	51.0	49.1
Average number of children per divorce(e)		no.	1.85	1.84	1.90	1.89	1.85	1.89	1.73	1.85	1.86
Median age at divorce
	Males	years	43.8	44.2	44.8	45.3	45.5	44.6	43.2	44.8	44.4
	Females	years	40.7	41.4	41.9	42.5	42.6	42.1	39.9	41.6	41.5
Median length of marriage
	To separation	years	7.8	8.8	9.0	9.7	9.4	10.0	6.7	9.6	8.7
	To divorce	years	11.2	12.5	12.9	13.4	13.3	13.5	10.3	13.0	12.3
Applicant(f)
	Male	no.	3 888	3 491	2 912	974	1 154	341	113	363	13 236
	Female	no.	5 293	4 768	4 049	1 474	1 446	522	133	464	18 149
	Joint	no.	5 436	3 901	4 213	1 215	2 167	352	187	592	18 063
(a) Divorces are presented by the state/territory location of the court granting divorce rather than usual residence, and as such caution should be taken in comparing divorce numbers with the populations of each state/territory. See Explanatory Notes 26-31 for more information.
(b) The total may be greater than the sum of its components as it includes divorces granted where the state/territory of registration was not available.
(c) Per 1,000 estimated resident population at 30 June. See Glossary and Explanatory Notes 33 and 39-41 for more information.
(d) Unmarried children of the marriage who were aged under 18 years at the time of application for divorce. See Glossary for more information.
(e) Excludes divorces not involving children.
(f) Excludes divorces where type of applicant is not stated.

Previous Page