Background and summary The federal
Marriage Act 1961 governs
marriage in Australia. It did not explicitly define the legal meaning of the word "
marriage" prior to 2004. Section 46(1) of the Act, however, has always included a provision requiring
celebrants to state the legal nature of marriage in Australia. Prior to the legalisation of same-sex marriage, the requirement was to state marriage is the union of "a man and a woman", or words to that effect, in line with the 1866 English case of
Hyde v Hyde. The words in section 46(1) have been seen as a description or exhortation rather than a legal definition. The bill also inserted a new provision in the Act (section 88EA) which stipulated any foreign marriages of same-sex couples "must not be recognised as a marriage in Australia".
Prime Minister John Howard later stated that the amendments were partially motivated by a desire to prevent same-sex couples from having their marriages recognised by the courts, as was being litigated at the time. Additional amendments to the
Family Law Act 1975 prevented same-sex couples from
adopting children in inter-country adoption arrangements, although these restrictions were eventually relaxed in 2014. The bill passed the Parliament on 13 August 2004 and went into effect on the day it received
royal assent by
Governor-General Michael Jeffery, 16 August 2004. Labor governments of
Kevin Rudd and
Julia Gillard between 2007 and 2013 were divided on the issue. Despite passing a resolution at the party's national conference in December 2011 to support same-sex marriage, the party held a
conscience vote when two
private member's bills to legalise same-sex marriage were debated in the Parliament in September 2012. The legislation was opposed by Prime Minister
Julia Gillard and several other Labor MPs, as well as by the opposition
Coalition, led by
Tony Abbott. The first bill failed in the
House of Representatives by 42 votes to 98 and a similar bill was rejected by the
Senate by 26 votes to 41. Same-sex marriage caused significant tension within the
Abbott government. It resolved in August 2015 to hold a national vote on same-sex marriage sometime after the
2016 federal election, in the form of either a
plebiscite or a constitutional referendum. This policy was maintained by the
Turnbull government after
Malcolm Turnbull (a supporter of same-sex marriage) replaced Abbott as prime minister following a
leadership challenge. A bill providing for the plebiscite (which would have been held on 11 February 2017) passed the House of Representatives by 76 votes to 67 on 20 October 2016, but was rejected by the Senate on 7 November 2016 by 29 votes to 33, as the government had failed to attract the support of the opposition Labor Party, the
Greens and several Senate
crossbenchers, who demanded that same-sex marriage be legalised through a parliamentary vote. Despite initially suggesting the government had "no plans to take any other measures on this issue", Prime Minister Turnbull came under increasing pressure to change policy and allow a conscience vote in the Parliament. By August 2017, several
Liberal Party MPs stated they would consider
crossing the floor to suspend standing orders and force debate on same-sex marriage legislation against the government's wishes. Consequently, at a Liberal party room meeting on 7 August 2017, the government resolved to conduct a
voluntary postal survey on the matter later in the year. The government stated the survey would only occur in the event the Senate again rejected the legislation enabling the plebiscite, which it did on 9 August 2017. On 9 August 2017, the government directed the
Australian Statistician to conduct a survey of all enrolled voters to measure support for same-sex marriage. The direction was given to bypass the need for the Parliament to approve a plebiscite. The direction was legally challenged, but was upheld by the
High Court. The survey was held between 12 September and 7 November 2017 and returned a 61.6% vote in favour of same-sex marriage. The government responded by confirming it would facilitate the passage of a private member's bill legalising same-sex marriage before the end of the year. The
Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017 was introduced by openly gay Liberal Party backbencher, Senator
Dean Smith. The bill amended section 5 of the
Marriage Act to define marriage in Australia as the union of "2 people". It also removed the ban on overseas same-sex marriages being recognised in Australia, including ones that occurred before the law change. Additionally, the bill included protections for religious celebrants, ministers of religion and bodies established for a religious purpose, to not be obligated to perform or provide services and facilities to marriages they object to. The bill received royal assent on 8 December 2017 and went into effect the following day. Same-sex marriages lawfully entered into overseas automatically became recognised from that date, and the first weddings after the normal one-month waiting period occurred on 9 January 2018. Several same-sex couples successfully applied for an exemption from the one-month waiting period, and the first legal same-sex wedding under Australian law was held on 15 December 2017 for Jill Kindt and Jo Grant in the
Sunshine Coast, with further weddings taking place the following day.
Marriage Act 1961 , 2018
2004 amendments On 27 May 2004, Attorney-General
Philip Ruddock introduced a bill, intending to incorporate the-then
common law definition of marriage into the
Marriage Act 1961. In June 2004, the bill passed the
House of Representatives, and the
Senate passed the amendment by 38 votes to 6 on 13 August 2004. The bill subsequently received royal assent from Governor-General Michael Jeffery, becoming the
Marriage Amendment Act 2004. The amendment specified that marriage meant "the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life." In addition, the bill banned the recognition of same-sex marriages entered into in other jurisdictions. Attorney-General Ruddock and other
Liberals argued that the bill was necessary to protect the institution of marriage, by ensuring that the common law definition was put beyond legal challenge.
Labor Shadow Attorney-General
Nicola Roxon on the same day the amendment was proposed said that the party would not oppose the amendment, arguing that it did not affect the legal situation of same-sex relationships, merely putting into statute law what was already common law. The
Family First senator supported the bill. referred to John Howard and the legislation as "hate[ful]". Brown was asked to retract his statements, but refused. Bob Brown additionally described Australia as having a "straight Australia policy", in reference to
the 1901 immigration policy of a similar name.
2017 amendments Senator Dean Smith introduced to Parliament a private senator's bill to alter the definition of marriage to allow same-sex couples to marry, after 61.6% of Australians who responded in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey voted to support same-sex marriage. The bill amended the definition of "marriage" in the Act, omitting the words "man and a woman" and replacing them with the
gender-neutral wording "2 people". The amendment which prevented overseas same-sex marriages from being recognised in Australia was repealed. The bill passed the Senate by 43 votes to 12 on 29 November, and passed the House of Representatives by 128 votes to 4 on 7 December 2017. The bill received royal assent from Governor-General
Peter Cosgrove on 8 December 2017 and came into effect the following day. States and territories have long had the ability to create laws with respect to relationships, though Section 51(xxi) of the
Constitution of Australia prescribes that marriage is a legislative power of the Parliament. Since the Parliament introduced the
Marriage Act 1961, marriage laws in Australia were generally regarded as an exclusive Commonwealth power. The precise rights of states and territories with respect to creating state-based same-sex marriage laws was complicated further by the Howard government amendment to the
Marriage Act in 2004 to define marriage as the exclusive "union of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others". The
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) provided a test case on the matter, when in October 2013, its
Legislative Assembly passed a law allowing same-sex marriage. On 13 September 2013, the
Australian Capital Territory Government had announced that it would introduce a bill to legalise same-sex marriage, following a decade-long attempt to legislate in the area. "We've been pretty clear on this issue for some time now and there's overwhelming community support for this",
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said. "We would prefer to see the federal parliament legislate for a nationally consistent scheme, but in the absence of this, we will act for the people of the ACT." The bill would have enabled couples unable to marry under the
Marriage Act 1961 to enter into marriage in the ACT, and would have provided for solemnisation, eligibility, dissolution and annulment, regulatory requirements and notice of intention in relation to same-sex marriages. On 10 October 2013,
Attorney-General George Brandis confirmed that the
Commonwealth Government would challenge the proposed ACT bill, stating that it had significant constitutional concerns with respect to the bill. The bill was debated in the Legislative Assembly on 22 October 2013, and passed by 9 votes to 8. Under the legislation, known as the
Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013, same-sex marriages were legally permitted from 7 December 2013. The Abbott government immediately challenged the law in the
High Court of Australia. The High Court ruled on the matter on 12 December 2013, five days after the first same-sex weddings were celebrated in the ACT, striking down the ACT's same-sex marriage law. Therefore, it included same-sex marriage thus clarifying that there is no constitutional impediment to the Commonwealth legislating for same-sex marriage in the future and as such that a same-sex marriage law passed by the Parliament could operate lawfully. and that no current arguments "present an absolute impediment to achieving state-based or Commonwealth marriage equality". The
ACT Government received legal advice supporting the lawfulness of its same-sex marriage law prior to the High Court ruling, though several legal experts expressed doubts. Aside from the Australian Capital Territory,
Tasmania is the only other state or territory to have passed same-sex marriage legislation in a chamber of its legislature. The
Tasmanian House of Assembly passed same-sex marriage legislation by 13 votes to 11 in September 2012, though the
Legislative Council subsequently voted against the legislation a few weeks later by 6 votes to 8. Both chambers later passed motions giving in-principle, symbolic support for same-sex marriage. Prior to the federal legalisation of same-sex marriage, six Australian jurisdictions (Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory,
New South Wales,
Queensland,
Victoria and
South Australia), comprising 90% of Australia's population, recognised same-sex marriages and civil partnerships performed overseas, providing automatic recognition of such unions in their respective state registers.
Constitutional and legal issues There is an important difference in the source of power of the Commonwealth to legislate over married and
de facto relationships. Marriage and "matrimonial causes" are supported by sections 51(xxi) and (xxii) of the Constitution. The legal status of marriage is also internationally recognised whereas the power to legislate for
de facto relationships and their financial matters relies on referrals by states to the Commonwealth in accordance with
Section 51(xxxvii) of the Australian Constitution, where it states the law shall extend only to states by whose parliaments the matter is referred, or which afterward adopt the law.
Transgender and intersex issues In the 2001 case of
Re Kevin – validity of marriage of transsexual, the
Family Court of Australia recognised the right of transsexual people to marry according to their current
gender as opposed to their
sex assigned at birth; this did not permit same-sex marriage from the perspective of the genders the prospective partners identified as, but it did mean that a
transgender woman could legally marry a cisgender man, and a
transgender man could legally marry a cisgender woman. In October 2007, the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal overturned a decision by the
Foreign Affairs Department refusing to issue a transgender woman a
passport listing her as female because she was married to a woman. The tribunal ordered that she be issued a passport listing her as female, in accordance with her other official documents, thereby recognising the existence of a marriage between two persons legally recognised as female. Same-sex marriage advocates noted that same-sex marriage legislation should be inclusive of the rights of transgender and
intersex people, with intersex people being sceptical of the term
same-sex marriage. These concerns were addressed by the federal legalisation of same-sex marriage in December 2017, which amended the definition of marriage to "2 people". As of 2017, only
South Australia and the
Australian Capital Territory did not require transgender people to
divorce before registering an official change of gender on a
birth certificate. This requirement was removed by federal law in December 2018.
Victoria passed legislation removing the forced divorce requirement in May 2018, and similar legislation was passed in
New South Wales and
Queensland the following month. The
Northern Territory passed similar laws in November 2018, and it was followed by
Western Australia in February 2019.
Tasmania was the last jurisdiction to reform its laws. The state passed legislation removing the forced divorce requirement in April 2019, and it joined some of the other states and territories in also removing the requirement for a person to have undergone
sex reassignment surgery prior to having a change of sex recognised on a birth certificate.
Indigenous Australians While many
Indigenous Australian cultures historically practiced
polygamy, there are no records of same-sex marriages being performed in these cultures in the way they are commonly defined in
Western legal systems. However, many Indigenous communities recognize identities and relationships that may be placed on the LGBT spectrum. For instance, the
Arrernte traditionally adhered to a "boy bride" custom whereby many young men, usually younger than 14 years of age, would be given to older adult men. The relationship was understood to include some sexual relations between both men, usually only
masturbation, as well as sleeping, hunting and eating together. At puberty, the younger partner would undergo a series of ceremonies into adulthood, and the "boy bride" relationship would end. The Arrernte also recognise people fulfilling a
third gender role, known as (). Similar cultural third gender roles exist among the
Warlpiri as (), the
Pitjantjatjara as (), the
Pintupi as (, the
Warumungu as , and the
Wiradjuri as . The
Tiwi similarly recognise formal structures and roles for the , often translated in
English as "sistergirls". In 2015, a group of Aboriginal elders delivered a petition to the
Parliament House called the "Uluru Bark Petition", which opposed same-sex marriage and described it as "an affront to the Aboriginal people of Australia". The petition also stated that "all Aboriginal people oppose changing the definition of marriage to allow same-sex couples to wed". Aboriginal writer Dameyon Boyson widely criticised the petition, saying, "The Uluru Bark Petition misrepresents Aboriginal culture, and that it's only the voice of a few leaders excessively influenced by white man's religion and influence. Behind these authentic faces that you see holding up these pieces of bark and standing in front of Parliament House you will find the mechanics of white influence." A
Darumbal Aboriginal who was asked to comment by the
National Indigenous Television said, "Colonisation and
Christianity ha[ve] pretty much shaped Indigenous culture today. In particular, it has hidden the voices of Indigenous lesbians and gays, and downplayed the importance of their relationships in traditional culture." During the marriage postal survey, about 50 survey forms were burned by local community members in
Ramingining because they thought that "it meant a man should be 'compelled' to marry another man". Indigenous activists also worried that survey forms would not be understood in remote Aboriginal communities as locals are not always fluent in English or "familiar with the process". A 2018 article from the
Australian Institute of Family Studies showed that support for equal rights did not vary significantly between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Statistics According to the
Australian Bureau of Statistics, approximately 4% of all marriages officiated in Australia between 2018 and 2024 were marriages of same-sex couples. The data for the year 2018 indicated that the overwhelming majority of same-sex weddings were administered by a civil celebrant, and that the median age of same-sex couples entering into marriages was notably older than that of heterosexual couples. The figures for 2018–2021 do not include any marriages where one or both of the parties do not identify as either male or female. Figures for 2020 and 2021 are also much lower than previous years because of the restrictions in place due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Dual British-Australian couples have been able to marry in British
diplomatic missions in Australia since the
United Kingdom legalised same-sex marriage in 2014. The first couple to marry were Peter Fraser and Gordon Stevenson on 27 June 2014 at the British consulate in
Sydney. From June 2014 to October 2017, 445 same-sex couples married in British diplomatic offices across Australia.
Religious performance Most major religious organisations in Australia do not perform or
bless same-sex marriages in their places of worship. The largest
religious denomination permitting same-sex marriage is the
Uniting Church in Australia. On 13 July 2018, its National Assembly approved the creation of marriage rites for same-sex couples. The change incorporated a gender-neutral definition of marriage in the Church's official statement, though also retained the existing statement on marriage as a heterosexual union, which the Church described as an "equal yet distinct" approach to the issue. Same-sex marriages have been permitted in the Uniting Church since 21 September 2018. Some smaller
Christian denominations, including
Quakers, the
Australia and New Zealand Unitarian Universalist Association, and the
Metropolitan Community Church, also solemnise same-sex marriages. Australian Quakers have supported the celebration of same-sex commitment ceremonies since 1994 and recognize them on an equal basis with other committed and loving relationships. In January 2010, they called on the government to legislate for same-sex marriages, and agreed to treat all requests for marriages in accordance with Quaker traditions, regardless of the sexual orientation or gender of the partners. Prior to this, the first Quaker same-sex marriage was held in
Canberra on 15 April 2007. The
Anglican Church of Australia's official position is that marriage is "an exclusive and lifelong union of a man and a woman", though a number of prominent members of the Church have stated support for same-sex marriage, and the prospect of a formal split on the issue has been canvassed. The Church permits the blessing of same-sex marriages on a diocesan basis; in November 2020, the Church's Appellate Tribunal approved 5–1 the right of individual
dioceses to formally bless the weddings of same-sex couples married in civil ceremonies. In 2013, the
Diocese of Perth voted in favour of recognising same-sex relationships, though
Archbishop Roger Herft later vetoed the measure. Nonetheless, the union of a same-sex couple, Suzie and Samantha Day-Davies, was blessed at St. Andrew's Church in
Subiaco in April 2016. In October 2018, the
Diocese of Sydney banned same-sex marriages and events that might advocate "expressions of human sexuality contrary to our doctrine of marriage" on about a thousand church-owned properties. In 2019, the
Diocese of Wangaratta voted in favour of a motion authorising a blessing rite for same-sex unions. Bishop
John Parkes performed the first blessing in September 2019 in
Wangaratta for Father John Davis and Father Rob Whalley, with a second blessing occurring in
Milawa a few months later. The
Diocese of Newcastle passed a similar motion in October 2019. The
synod of the
Diocese of Ballarat has also asked Bishop
Garry Weatherill to permit the blessing of same-sex unions, and in June 2022 Bishop
Richard Treloar of the
Diocese of Gippsland said there were "no obstacles" to same-sex blessings in his diocese. The
Australian Baptist Ministries "rejects moves to extend the definition of marriage to include same-sex relationships". In May 2025, two parishes, the Canberra Baptist Church and the Hamilton Baptist Church in
Newcastle, were expelled from the denomination over their decision to affirm same-sex marriages. The
Greek Orthodox Church considers marriage "a sacrament... through which the union of man and woman is sanctified by God". The
Australian Christian Churches opposes same-sex marriage, and the
Presbyterian Church responded to the results of the same-sex marriage survey by stating that it "continues to hold to the biblical definition of marriage as between one man and one woman as we believe it best reflects the Lord's creational design for human flourishing". The
Catholic Church opposes same-sex marriage and "views marriage as a unique relationship between a woman and a man". In December 2023, the
Holy See published
Fiducia supplicans, a declaration allowing
Catholic priests to
bless couples who are not considered to be
married according to church teaching, including the blessing of same-sex couples. The Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy reacted to the declaration, stating, "Ordained priests are ministers of God's blessings given to sanctify the human person and build up all that is true, good, and beautiful in human life. While sinful human persons who seek God's mercy are authentic recipients of God's blessings, such blessings of their nature are ordered to communion with God; to conversion and sanctification, and so can never be bestowed on sinful acts nor legitimize relationships that are intrinsically incompatible with the divine plan." Most Islamic scholars are in agreement that homosexuality is "incompatible with Islamic theology". The
Australian National Imams Council "affirms that Islam sanctifies marriage as only being between a man and a woman". The
Australian Council of Hindu Clergy issued a clarifying statement in September 2017 that marriage under Hinduism is between "a man and a woman"; the group having come to the position after a formal vote was taken indicating 90% approval for the position. The
Federation of Australian Buddhist Council states there is no fixed or pre-ordained form of marriage, though it "has been consistent in its support for same-sex marriage since 2012". Same-sex marriages can also be performed in
Reform Jewish synagogues, but are not permitted in
Orthodox or
Conservative traditions. The first Jewish same-sex marriage in Australia was performed at
Emanuel Synagogue in Sydney in May 2018 for Ilan Buchman and Oscar Shub. ==State and territory recognition schemes==