What's the Trend around Religious Weddings?

Is there a deep shift in the ways in which couples marry within Australia?

Until 1973, wedding ceremonies in Australia were either religious based (e.g. a Catholic Church Wedding) or a Registry Office (government) Ceremony. In 1973, the Marriage Act, 1961 (Cth) was amended to allow a third option i.e. a Civil Ceremony officiated by a Civil (Wedding) Celebrant. This was intended to provide wedding couples with a non-religious, non-government run ceremony that’s instead far more personal to them as a couple and their culture.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (“ABS”), about 110,000 wedding ceremonies occur annually within Australia. Up until the early 2000s, the ABS reported that about 80% of these ceremonies were conducted in a religious context e.g. Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, etc. The remaining 20% of couples were married either in a Registry Office or by a Civil (Wedding) Celebrant.

Fast forward about 20 years to 2025 and the ABS ratio has flipped! Instead, in the mid 2020s, over 80% of wedding ceremonies are Civil (Wedding) Ceremony based with less than 20% being officiated through either religious or government registry ceremonies.

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