Abbreviated as MSTP; referenced by 4 other explainers
Registered marital status shows the legal marital status of people aged 15 and over.
These figures are Place Forecast estimates based on Census data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
There are five categories:
Same-sex marriages have counted in this group since 9 December 2017.
This page measures legal marital status. It is not the same as relationship status in daily life. For example, take someone living with a partner but not legally married. They are counted as Never married. To see relationship status within households, use the Social marital status page instead. The two pages measure different things and will have different totals.
A legal view of marriage does not fit everyone. In many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, kinship shapes how people partner. Read these groups as legal categories, not as the full picture.
The figures count people aged 15 and over at their usual residence. They include people in non-private dwellings, such as hospitals, aged-care homes, and student housing. They do not count overseas visitors.
ABS does not publish a Not stated count for registered marital status. Non-responses are classified into the published totals.
See the marker methodology for how these figures are built and its limits.
The ABS adjusts small counts to protect privacy. This can shift a number a little. It is called perturbation.
Treat small-area figures as patterns, not exact counts. Check them with the relevant community-controlled organisation. This follows Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles.