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Previous research has demonstrated that marriages preceded by premarital cohabitation have higher rates of dissolution than those in which the couple marry without first living together. Most of this research relies on data generated by couples who cohabited in the 1970s and early 1980s when premarital cohabitation was relatively uncommon and usually of brief duration. Since then, premarital cohabitation in Australia has become normative and thus less prone to selection effects. The period of premarital cohabitation has also lengthened and is thus more likely to provide opportunities to screen out unviable matches. This paper uses national survey data from Australia to explore whether, in the light of these changes, the previously observed higher level of marital dissolution among those who live together before marrying has persisted. It demonstrates that the higher risk of marital dissolution among those who cohabited before marriage has declined substantially in the 1990s marriage cohort and, after controlling for selection factors, has disappeared altogether. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the first unions of women born in different years. It looks at how the first union of these women started, whether it began with cohabitation or marriage, and how old they were when they entered their first union. The proportions of women born in different years who had a child within four years of the start of their first union are also examined. Patterns of family formation were examined in the Australian life Course Survey, conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies in 1996. This study was based on telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of nearly 2700 respondents aged 25 to 70 years. Respondents provided a history of the pathways they had taken in family formation; beginning with the first time they had lived with a partner. This history included the dates of any periods of cohabitation, marriage, birth of children, and separation. For simplicity, the present analysis focuses on the reports of women. Given the relatively small number of women in the sample who reported the birth of a child outside cohabitation or marriage (35 women), the different pathways followed by this group were not assessed.

The article discusses the important findings of the research conducted by the Australian Institutes of Family Studies involving the tangible allegations of family violence and abuse. The key findings of the Institutes' research includes the prevalence of spousal violence and child abuse allegations, type of alleged spousal violence and child abuse as well as clear severity of allegations. It cites that the research is useful in responding controversies regarding "false allegations" and "false denials" in family violence and abuse come before the court. Researchers cite that thorough evaluation on the family violence and abuse allegation is essential for the effectiveness of the legal judgment for the alleged cases.

This article first outlines changes in proportions of die adult population who are married, then focuses on the changing age at first marriage, and the rates of marriage and remarriage. Statistics on the prevalence of marriage provide snapshots in time that do not take into account all those who have embraced marriage at some stage in their life, including those whose marriages have ended in divorce or widowhood. The marriage boom is reflected in both the high overall first marriage rates and the increasing tendency for individuals to marry at a relatively early age. Factors that appeared to facilitate and sustain this boom include the improved economic conditions prevailing after World War II, the emergence of a new era of familism which encouraged early and universal marriage, the continuing social disapproval of sex outside marriage and stigma attached to unmarried mothers, increased social acceptance of birth control in the 1950s, and the introduction of the contraceptive pill which enabled women to marry when young while avoiding having children.