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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    Is same-sex marriage legal in Australia?

    Related Topics
    Sexual Health Sexual Identity - LGBTI
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  • Jacqueline Hellyer

    Sex Therapist

    Hello, I’m Jacqueline Hellyer, Sex Therapist and Relationship Coach. I’ve spent thousands of hours working with individuals and couples around sex and relationships. I’ve been … View Profile

    No, it's not. There is a big drive on at the moment to encourage government to make it legal. Many gay couples have ‘commitment ceremonies’ in lieu of being able to become legally married.

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  • Michelle Linmore

    Counselling Psychologist, Counsellor, Psychologist, Sex Therapist

    Not yet, but it is legal now in NZ. Civil partnerships are available in some states and these give similar  legal rights to being married. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before the law catches up with popular opinion as most Australians do agree that same sex marriage should be allowed.

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    Colin Longworth

    Psychologist

    Is a Cisgender Generalist Psychologist, who is able to provide counselling services under Medicare (with a GP referral) as well as Telehealth and Clinical Hypnotherapy, … View Profile

    It is now legal for Same-Sex couples to marry in Australia.

    The Australian Parliament passed legislation on the matter on 7th December 2017.

    This followed the 15th November 2017 release of the results of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, 

    As the ABS said: "Of the eligible Australians who expressed a view on this question, the majority indicated that the law should be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry, with 7,817,247 (61.6%) responding Yes and 4,873,987 (38.4%) responding No. Nearly 8 out of 10 eligible Australians (79.5%) expressed their view."

    There may however be difficulties for those of a "religious" persuasion who may wish to marry in church service. In  that religious organisations may well not allow this to happen.

    A report from the 1st June 2018 noted how since the changes to the law, there had been 2490 same-sex marriages in Australia since the law changed.

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