Families are structural and functional unit of society and are a fundamental social group in society

typically consisting of one or two parents and their children, which one of whom is at least 15 years of
age. Australian families are categorized in many shapes and sizes. Immanent in Australia is a rich
diversity of many different family structures. The primitive family unit of the past still remains,
however is diluted as today there is much more diversity. Family structures that might have been
considered unusual 30-50 years ago are now more common; in the 21st century, this ultimately
suggests the changing families structures in Australian society. In present day there are many family
structures that dwell within society and are socially accepted, such as same sex couples, step families,
single parent household and blended families don’t raise much of an eyebrow 1. Many past trends have
been rendered out as time passed, expectations to marry young and start raising children early has been
diluted as social trends have undergone a massive change. Perceptions in regards to families are
continuously changing as roles individuals adbot in families are changing. The various prominent
family structures present within Australian society consist of lone parent families, single parent
families, Couple families, De facto and Other families. A lone parent family unit is defined according
to the ABS as a private dwelling family in which there is only one usual resident at least 15 years of
age. A single parent families defined by the ABS is considered as a one-parent family which consists of
a lone parent with at least one child. A couple family is identified by the ABS by "the existence of a
couple relationship2 residing in the same residence as each other. A de facto family relationship is
essentially two people who are not married or related by family who may be same sex who live
together on the basis of domestic purposes.

 Families underwent significant shifts in structure over the 20th century3. At the time of federation,
families often had extended kin and unrelated people living with them4. In the decades following
World War II, nuclear families (i.e. families formed around couples and parent-child relationships,
with no extended members) became more common5.
 While this is still the case, social changes in the later part of the century saw increasing diversity in
the kinds of family structures that exist within Australian society.

 In 2001, 14 million Australians which comprise 82% of the total population subsisted and lived with at least
one other family member, making up 4.9 million families in total. The number of families in Australia
increased by 19% between 1986 and 2001, slightly less than the growth in the population over the same
period (21%). 6 As indicated through the graph provided below

1 © 2017 Budget Direct. All rights reserved published: December 8, 2015 accessed: 17/8/17

2 © 2017 Australian Institute of Family Studies. Published: No. 4 — July 2013 https://aifs.gov.au/publications/australian-households-
and-families#footnote-16722-1
3 Hugo, G. 2001, 'A century of population change in Australia' in Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001, Year Book Australia, 2001, cat.

no. 1301.0, ABS, Canberra.

4 Gilding, M. 2001, 'Changing Families in Australia, 1901-2001', Family Matters, No. 60, pp. 6-11.
5 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001, Marriages and Divorces, Australia 2000, cat. no. 3310.0, ABS, Canberra.
6
Source: ABS 1986 and 2001 Censuses of Population and Housing
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/2f762f95845417aeca25706c00834efa/2559632155bf56b8ca2570eb008353
96!OpenDocument
  Through statistical analysis provided by the ABS in the year 2006-
-7, couple families with no children were the most protuberant type of family immanent in the
Australian society comprising up 40% of the total population,
 followed by couple families with depende-7nt children which comprise 37% of society . The
increase in the proportion of couples living without children somewhat reflects the ageing of the
population as baby boomers move
into the 'empty nester' phase of their
lives7.
 In 2007 the number of blended
and step-families had increased over
time. Blended families comprised
3% and step families 5.1%. Due to
single parenthood and parental
separation become more common.
However, intact families are still the
most common families with children
in Australia

 In the 2011 stat provided by the ABS what becomes noted

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FAMILY STRUCTURE- 1370.0 - Measures of Australia's Progress, 2010 -
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/1370.0~2010~Chapter~Family%20structure%20%284.5.6.1%2
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 In 2012-13, there were 8.9 million families in Australia. 23% were lone person households, and 3% were
group households8. This stat shows that that the percentile of lone person household had increased rapidly
this may arise due to the lack economic sustainability in 2012 and 2013. Living costs play a fundamental
component in family formation, the annual living expenses in 2012 and 2013 had seen a major increase in
the face of the Australian society. Individuals whom were unemployed were devested with the below which
contributed to the overall increase in lone families. Surveyed through the Australian institute of studies are
conclusively validate that the economic position of Australia was the main factor which lead to the increase
in lone families in the year 2012 and 2013.
 Of the 6.7 million families in Australia in 2014-15, 85% (5.7 million) were couple families with one or more
children. This number increased by 0.11255% from May 2013 as new jobs were being introduced in
Australia which ensured that families were monetarily and fiscally stable to form a household under the
constraints of the slowly but somewhat steadily stable economy of Australia (909,000) were one parent
families and 2% (107,000) were other families.

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Source(s): Family Characteristics and Transitions, Australia