Registered marital status (MSTP)

This variable records a person’s formal registered marital status. If registered marital status is not stated, it is imputed.

Persons aged 15 years and over

This variable captures the response from the marital status question on the Census form.

If a person provides more than one response, the first response that appears on the form will be used. If there is no response to the question, a response is imputed (or derived to Not applicable when the age is less than 15 years). Imputation is a statistical process for predicting values where no response was provided to a question and a response could not be derived. The variable Imputation flag for registered marital status (IFMSTP) indicates if a person’s Registered marital status was imputed in the Census.

The majority of imputed Registered marital status is attributed to people in occupied dwellings on Census night that did not return a form. A smaller proportion are due to people who returned a partially completed form without responding to the Marital status question.

A question on Marital status has been asked in every Census since 1911.

In December 2017, amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 came into effect enabling marriage equality for all couples. The amendments removed references to sex or gender and redefined marriage as 'the union of two people to the exclusion of all others'. Registered marriages reported in Census data releases will include same-sex couples and opposite sex couples only.

In 2021, no changes have been made to the question on the form. However, changes were made to the way responses were processed as all couples can now be in registered marriages.

The Registered marital status variable provides data about a person's current registered marital status, regardless of their reported relationship to another person in their household. During the time of the Census the following instructions were available on the Census website to help people answer the registered marital status question.

• If the person is a child and therefore not married, select ‘Never married’.
• If the person is divorced or widowed and has remarried, select ‘Married’.
• If the person is divorced and has not remarried, select ‘Divorced’, even if the person lives in a de facto relationship.
• If the person is in a de facto relationship and has not been in a registered marriage, select ‘Never married’.
• If the person is in a traditional Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander marriage, select ‘Married’.

Information on de facto relationships is derived from responses to the Relationship in household question and output in the Social marital status (MDCP) variable.

Due to the amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 in 2017, all couples are able to identify as being in registered marriages. While the categories for the variable have not changed, more people may be applicable in category 5 – Married.

• Imputation flag for registered marital status (IFMSTP)
• Social marital status (MDCP)
• Relationship in household (RLHP)
• Derivations and imputations
• Marital status
• Visitors to Australia

• People