Mixed marriages in the Greek-Australian community,which have been rising steadily, hit 62 percent last year, according to data released by the Holy Archdiocese of Australia. During the past decade a 20% increase had been recorded when it comes to Greek Orthodox marrying outside the faith or inter-racially, many of whom are opting for civil services and not church ceremonies.
The percentage of mixed marriages was 23% in 1989, and has now nearly tripled since then. Greek-Australians are particularly choosing partners of Italian descent, followed by the English.
There have been changes in the divorce rate as well in the community. The Archdiocese recorded 600 Greek-Orthodox marriages were conducted in 2011 and 96 divorces were issued, although the rate is believed to be higher as the Archdiocese deals only with divorces of Christians who wish to have a second or a third church marriage.
