This variable shows how each person in a family is related to the family reference person. If a person is not part of a family, it records their relationship to the household reference person. It is a key Census variable for people in private dwellings that enables the output of many family, household and person level variables within the Census dataset.
Scope
Persons present in the household on Census night
Categories
Categories for relationship in household (RLHP)
1
Husband, wife, spouse or partner
11
In a registered marriage
12
In a de facto relationship
2
Lone parent
21
Lone parent
3
Child under 15 years
31
Natural or adopted child under 15 years
32
Step child under 15 years
33
Foster child under 15 years
34
Grandchild under 15 years
35
Otherwise related child under 15 years
36
Unrelated child under 15 years
4
Dependent full-time student (15-24 years)
41
Natural or adopted dependent full-time student (15-24 years)
This image shows a question from the 2026 Census online form. This question asks: What is Person 1’s date of birth?
Underneath the question text, the instructional text states: If date of birth is not known, please select 'Don't know date of birth' and provide Person 1’s age.
Underneath the instructional text, is a clickable More Information header. Once clicked, the More Information text is split into sections. The first section states: It is important to note: Date of birth is the date that the person was born; Age is required only if the person's date of birth is not known. Please report age at Census night – Tuesday 11 August 2026. The next section states: If the person is less than one year old and their date of birth is not known, enter '0' in the age box.
There are two response options. The first option is: Day, followed by a numeric free text field; Month, followed by dropdown options; Year, followed by a numeric free text field. The second option is a checkbox with the text: Don’t know date of birth. Checking this box will allow for Age to be entered into a numeric free text field.
What is the person’s relationship to person 1/person 2?
Image
Description
This image shows a question from the 2026 Census online form. This question asks: What is Person 2's relationship to Person 1?
Underneath the question text, the instructional text states: Examples of other relationships: Son-in-law, Grandchild, Aunt, Boarder.
Underneath the instructional text, is a clickable More Information header. Once clicked, the More Information is shown, and states: If more than one response applies, select only the option that shows the relationship that most closely applies.
The response options are: Husband or wife or spouse of Person 1; De facto partner of Person 1; Child of Person 1; Stepchild of Person 1; Parent of Person 1; Brother or sister or sibling of Person 1; Unrelated flatmate or co-tenant of Person 1; Other relationship to Person 1(specify), followed by a free text field.
What is the person’s current marital status?
Image
Description
This image shows a question from the 2026 Census online form. This question asks: What is Person 1’s current marital status?
Underneath the question text, the instructional text states: ‘Married’ refers to registered marriages.
Underneath the instructional text, is a clickable More Information header. Once clicked, the More Information is shown, and states: 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’.
The response options are: Never married; Widowed; Divorced; Separated but not divorced; Married.
Is the person attending a school or other education institution?
Image
Description
This image shows a question from the 2026 Census online form. This question asks: Is Person 1 attending a school or any other education institution?
Underneath the question text, the instructional text states: Include tertiary education and vocational education and training providers (e.g. TAFE and private training providers). Include external, online, or correspondence study.
Underneath the instructional text, is a clickable More Information header. Once clicked, the More Information is shown, and states: Select full-time student or part-time student based on whether the institution considers the person to be a full-time or part-time student. For a person who attends only hobby or recreational courses, select ‘No’.
For each person away, answer the following questions:
Image
Description
This image shows a question from the 2026 Census online form. This question asks: List the people who will be away on the night of Tuesday 11 August 2026 but usually live in this dwelling.
Underneath the question text, the instructional text states: Remember that people listed here will need to complete a Census form for where they will be in Australia on Census night.
There is a heading titled People away with an option to List Person Away 1 with text next to it that any person who usually lives in this dwelling but will be away.
There is a button underneath to add another person away.
Image
Description
This image shows a question from the 2026 Census online form. This question asks: What is Person Away A’s date of birth?
Underneath the question text, the instructional text states: If date of birth is not known, please select 'Don't know date of birth' and provide Person 1’s age.
Underneath the instructional text, is a clickable More Information header. Once clicked, the More Information text is split into sections. The first section states: It is important to note: Date of birth is the date that the person was born; Age is required only if the person's date of birth is not known. Please report age at Census night – Tuesday 11 August 2026. The next section states: If the person is less than one year old and their date of birth is not known, enter '0' in the age box.
There are two response options. The first option is: Day, followed by a numeric free text field; Month, followed by dropdown options; Year, followed by a numeric free text field. The second option is a checkbox with the text: Don’t know date of birth. Checking this box will allow for Age to be entered into a numeric free text field.
Image
Description
This image shows a question from the 2026 Census online form. This question asks: Is Person Away A a full-time student?
Underneath the instructional text, is a clickable More Information header. Once clicked, the More Information is shown, and states: Select ‘Yes’ if the institution considers the person to be a full-time student. Select ‘No’ if the institution considers the person to be a part-time student. For a person who attends only hobby or recreational courses select ‘No’. For a child who attends a preschool or preschool program (including early childhood education and centre based day care providers): Select ‘Yes’ if they attend at least 15 hours a week on average. Select ‘No’ if they attend less than 15 hours a week on average.
The response options are: No; Yes.
Image
Description
This image shows a question from the 2026 Census online form. This question asks: What is Person Away A's relationship to Person 1/Person 2?
Underneath the question text, the instructional text states: Examples of other relationships: Son-in-law, Grandchild, Aunt, Boarder.
Underneath the instructional text, is a clickable More Information header. Once clicked, the More Information is shown, and states: If more than one response applies, select the option that shows the relationship that most closely applies.
The response options are: Husband or wife or spouse of Person 1; De facto partner of Person 1; Child of both Person 1 and Person 2; Child of Person 1 only; Child of Person 2 only; Unrelated flatmate or co-tenant of Person 1; Other relationship to Person 1(specify), followed by a free text field.
How this variable is created
This variable is derived from responses to the relationship in household, age, registered marital status and full‑time or part‑time student questions on the Census form. It also considers persons temporarily absent on Census night. Persons temporarily absent (PTA) on Census night are included when this variable is derived. This supports the identification of some families and helps distinguish lone person households from group households.
During data processing, families are identified and created around a family reference person. If a child or non‑family member is listed as Person 1, a more suitable person is chosen as the reference person.
form a parent and child relationship and are aged under 15 years old
are aged 15 to 24 years and full‑time students (in secondary or tertiary education) and don’t have a child or partner of their own
Non‑dependent children are those who:
are aged 15 to 24 years and not full‑time students and don’t have a child or partner of their own
are aged 25 years and over and don’t have a child or partner of their own
History and changes
This variable was first reported in 1911 and has been included in every Census since. From the 1986 Census onwards, the relationship of each child to Person 1 and/or Person 2 has been collected to enable the identification and classification of stepchildren.
In 2026, category labels have been updated. Terminology now uses non-gendered terms such as ‘sibling’, ‘parent’ and ‘grandparent’. References to ‘same-sex’ and ‘opposite-sex’ have been removed; data users can now choose to combine data from this question with couple indicators, such as couple indicator (sex recorded at birth) (SSCF) and couple indicator (gender) (CIGF), to reflect different types of couple relationships relevant to their analysis. In addition, several other category labels were updated to provide more detail. This includes the addition of the word ‘years’, specifying students as full-time and providing an age range (i.e. 15 to 24 years) where relevant. The categories of this variable have changed to a hierarchical structure.
