Readers may have followed some of these reports in Pointers over the years, and it is significant to note that 1999 was the first time in Australia where more couples chose to be married by a civil celebrant (51 per cent). While it has taken some time for this change, the trend looks like continuing based on the 2000 statistics.
As noted previously, the major change occurred in the first few years after the introduction of the flexible arrangements for civil celebration (1973), with 87 per cent of couples using a religious celebrant in 1971, down to 71 per cent in 1976. By 1991 this figure had fallen to just under 59 per cent, and 53.2 per cent in 1996.

One difference worth mentioning is that in 1999, both New South Wales and Victoria still recorded a preference for ministers of religion as the celebrant (approximately 52 per cent, and just over 50 per cent, respectively), but in 2000, New South Wales was left as the sole state with more religious celebrations and only just at 51 per cent. The lowest religious celebration percentage for a state or Territory was recorded by the Northern Territory with 29.7 percent.

In terms of the major groups, there were no major changes since the introduction of Islam as one of the listed main groups 2 years ago. The three largest groups maintained their positions: Catholic (16 per cent), Anglican (10.4 per cent) and Uniting (5.7 per cent). Together they accounted for 68 per cent of the religious celebrations (71 per cent in 1996). However, between 1996 and 2000, the Uniting group suffered a significant decline (down 27 per cent), more than double the decline of the Anglicans and Catholics. The next two largest groups, Orthodox (2.6 per cent) and Baptist group (1.8 per cent) have been fairly stable, and it would seem that Islam, nearly equal in 2000 with the 6th largest Presbyterian group (both 1.1 per cent) is likely to become the 6th largest group in 2001.

Cohabitation
Also an interesting analysis in the 1999 report revealed that 69 per cent of couples cohabited prior to entering a registered marriage (based on the recorded addresses of both parties). This was a 44 per cent increase on ten years ago. It is still evident that a couple were more likely to use a civil celebrant if they had cohabited before their marriage. Nearly 83 per cent of couples who used a civil celebrant in 1999 had cohabited, compared to 55 per cent who used a religious celebrant. Interesting, anecdotally, ministers have usually mentioned to me that they find it quite rare to have a situation where both couples have separate addresses. I believe it would be worth comparing active church membership and the matter of cohabitation, particularly for churches and religious groups which have a high stress on celibacy in singleness.

Source: ABS: Marriages and Divorces, 1999 and 2000.
Peter Bentley