New ABS data showing divorces surge past 49,000 while marriages decline exposes decades of family policy failure — deepened, Family First says, by the 2017 redefinition of marriage, with consequences now devastating for the nation.
Family First National Director Lyle Shelton says new ABS data showing a divorce surge and falling marriage rate proves successive governments have failed to prioritise family formation — and that the 2017 same‑sex redefinition of marriage struck a devastating blow at the institution now shown to be in decline.
The Daily Telegraph reported 49,158 divorces granted in 2025, up on the previous year, against just 118,804 marriages — roughly one divorce for every two‑and‑a‑half weddings. Same‑sex marriages also fell, from 4,746 to 4,636.
“This is the cumulative result of decades of government policy that has done nothing to make marriage and family formation easier,” Mr Shelton said. “Tax families more than singles, make housing unaffordable for young couples, and strip away the supports that underpinned marriage, and this is what you get: fewer weddings, later marriages, and a divorce rate that sadly contributes to further instability for children.”
Mr Shelton said the 2017 redefinition of marriage struck at the very foundation of the institution now in decline.
“You cannot redefine marriage and expect it to hold the same weight in the culture,” Mr Shelton said. “For thousands of years marriage meant a lifelong union between a man and a woman, ordered towards children and family. Parliament tore up that definition in 2017 — and today’s figures show the cost: fewer young Australians marrying at all, and those who do, separating in growing numbers.”
Mr Shelton said the data underscored the need for all levels of Government, State and Federal, to implement policies that rewards marriage and families, rather than treating breakdown as inevitable.
“Family First has the only serious policy platform to turn this around,” Mr Shelton said. “We want a $30,000 tax‑free threshold, income splitting for married couples, and real recognition for young Australians who marry and stay married. Every year the major parties fail to act is another year of data like this — family breakdown has a cost to children, the economy, and the nation’s future.”
ENDS
Lyle Shelton is Family First’s National Director, NSW Legislative Council lead candidate.
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