Study Reveals More Australians Abandoning Traditional Definitions of Family

John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Traditional notions of a family—comprising a mother, a father, and two kids—are being redefined, according to a recent survey of nearly 6,000 Australians.

The research reveals a society embracing an evolving concept of family, extending beyond the bounds of blood, marriage, adoption, or fostering, as the government still defines it, to include close friends.

Notably, the study found that 67 percent of the Australians surveyed consider “unconditional, non-judgemental support” as a key defining feature of family.

“Understandings of ‘family’ are shifting over time from a rigid institution guided by obligations, tradition and legal definitions to relationships that are defined by love, satisfaction, and individual choices,” the authors wrote.

In fact, 41 percent of the respondents see family as a choice—a network that can include both blood relatives and close friends.

This change is particularly evident among LGBTQ+ individuals, who are less inclined to emphasise genetics in defining family.

Moreover, LGBTQ+ people were almost twice as likely to rate blood or genetics as not important at all in defining a family compared to other study participants.

The study also revealed generational differences in perceptions of family, with older Australians placing significantly higher emphasis on blood ties at 62 percent, whereas only 24 percent of Gen Z considered blood ties important.

This shift extends beyond human relationships, with over half of the participants considering their pets as family members, indicating a growing recognition of pets within the family unit.

Embracing Individual Choice in Defining Family

Study co-author and Research Fellow at Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS), Luke Gahan, said the findings have implications for law and policymakers, as definitions of family change.

“For many people family is still a rigid institution underpinned by genetics and legal ties—however, there is an increasing diversity of views on what it means to be a family,” Mr. Gahan said.

“This study shows relationships defined by love and individual choice are coming to the fore when it comes to notions of family—throwing up challenges for law and policymakers, as they try to meet the needs of a changing society.”

For example, that pets increasingly being considered family could impact the way couples separate.

“By law, pets are currently considered ‘property’—but perhaps, given how many of us feel about our pets, something closer to a custody arrangement is more appropriate,” Mr. Gahan said.

“Also, many people considering close friends as family could influence how employment law defines ‘immediate family’ in terms of leave provisions, when a family member requires care.”

Decline of the Traditional Family

The family is a fundamental unit of society, allowing people not only to raise children in a stable and nurturing environment, but also to pass on the knowledge of one generation to the next.

However, the traditional family is under threat due to modern movements such as feminism and sexual liberation, according to an Epoch Times series “How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World.”

It argues that these movements have led to confusion and contributed to the degradation of the family, with statistical evidence, especially regarding divorce rates and out-of-wedlock births, supporting this.

The authors suggest that the breakdown of the family marks a significant loss of stability.

“The destruction of the family, a basic unit of social stability, also means the destruction of traditional morality established by the divine and of the role the family plays in nurturing the next generation within a framework of traditional culture,” they said.