Twice as many Australians declared themselves to be living in same-sex relationships in the 2001 census as in the 1996 census.

According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald quoting official statistics, 1.5 per cent of all couples in the state of New South Wales (NSW) without children were happy to say they were homosexual compared to 1.9 per cent of childless couples in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

The number of "families with same-sex couples" rose from 10,214 in the 1996 census to 19,596 couples in the 2001 census. Of those, 10,804 were male couples and 8792 were female.

Although the Bureau of Statistics does not ask about sexual preference, one may choose to declare on the form that they are in a de facto relationship with someone of the same sex in the same household. The bureau does not identify the individuals.

The census also found that of the 6986 declared same-sex couples who live in Sydney - 4362 of them are gay and 2624 of them are lesbian, while in Melbourne, there were 2429 declared male couples and 1811 female couples.