This snapshot examines how contemporary couple relationships are evolving, and how Australia’s family law framework must work to keep pace with changing arrangements while at the same time continuing to play its protective role. In Australia today, couple relationships may be legally recognised as: marriages, registered relationships and de facto relationships.

Many changes have occurred in Australia since the establishment of the Australian Institute of Families Studies in 1980. This snapshot presents some changes in relation to couple relationships.

Despite families being much smaller, parents being older, mothers being better educated and having much higher employment rates, child poverty has risen significantly since the 1960s. In 1961, 95 percent of children were born to married couples; by 2015 the proportion had fallen to 53 percent. For Maori, 72 percent of births were to married...

Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews claims data shows that de facto relationships have a higher incidence of break-up than marriages.

Reforms introduced in 2009 to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) have meant that most same-sex and opposite-sex de facto couples (in all states and territories except Western Australia) who end their relationships can now have their property and financial matters dealt with in substantially the same way as married people.