Australia vote results gay marriage
Why Australia's same-sex marriage result was not a surprise
Polls had long shown Australians supported queer marriage, yet the results of a national vote acquire generated intense discussion. Political scientist Dr Shaun Ratcliff explores how predictions got it right, and why some areas voted the way they did.
At 10:00 on Wednesday 15 November, the leader statistician of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) announced that 61.6% of voters supported a change to the Marriage Act.
This represented the adjacent culmination of a process years in the making that will (presumably) outcome in the legal recognition of queer marriages once parliament passes legislation to that effect (promised by the cease of the year).
Why was it the chief statistician who announced these results, and why did Australia include a public vote on this issue? A vote was not required by the constitution, as it was in Ireland in 2015. Nor does Australia have a tradition of votes to resolve policy issues, as many American states for example do.
Rather, it was held, largely, to resolve tensions within the incumbent centre-right Liberal-National coalition government.
Same-sex marriage survey results: Notice how people who reside near you responded
See the full results, including seat-by-seat breakdowns.
"Should the law be changed to allow queer couples to marry?"
Australia has voted 'yes' to help changing the law to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Key results of the same-sex marriage postal survey:
- 62 per cent responded 'yes' to the same-sex marriage postal survey, a total of 7.82 million people.
- 38 per cent responded 'no', or 4.87 million people.
- The total response rate to the survey was 79.5 per cent, meaning 12,727,920 people responded.
- The ACT registered the highest support for SSM, with 74 per cent saying 'yes'.
- New South Wales had the lowest support for SSM, with 58 per cent saying 'yes'.
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About this story
- The percentages in this article are calculated after invalid survey responses are excluded.
Credits
- Design: Ben Spraggon, Georgina Piper
- Development: Colin Gourlay, Andrew Kesper
- Reporting: Louise Yaxley
- Production: Cristen Tilley, Matt Liddy
WA votes for same-sex marriage survey, with second-highest declare Yes vote in Australia
West Australians have overwhelmingly voted in favour of homosexual marriage, returning the second highest Yes vote of any state in results of the national postal survey.
Out of 801,575 votes returned in the mention, 63.7 per cent of registered voters indicated Yes, with 36.3 per cent voting No.
The result was behind only Victoria, which recorded a 64.9 per cent Yes vote. The ACT posted the extreme Yes vote of any territory, with 74 per cent.
'We're going to win'
For Neil Connery and Geoff Bishop, they don't desire special treatment — just equality.
The couple were among about 1,000 people who flocked to Northbridge Piazza to see the results come in live at 7am.
"Relieved, happy, ecstatic, joyful it's over. We're going to win!"Mr Bishop said.
Full SSM survey results
See how people who exist near you responded to the same-sex marriage postal survey.
"It's peace of brain for me. We are finally going to be treated equally," Mr Connery added.
The Mandurah couple include been together for 30 years and were married at the British Embassy in
Marriage equality
Decriminalisation of homosexuality
From the 1960s the socially gradual South Australian Labor government wanted to repeal laws criminalising homosexuality.
However, it was not until the May 1972 murder in Adelaide of Dr George Duncan, a law lecturer and gay man, that premier, Don Dunstan, assessed that the community mood was receptive to reform.
Dr Duncan’s murder led to revelations of how commonplace aggression and harassment against lgbtq+ people was.
South Australia’s Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Operate, was enacted on 2 October 1975. It was a landmark in LGBTQIA+ rights in Australia because it fully decriminalised queer acts.
Equivalent law reform was passed by the Australian Capital Territory in 1976, Victoria in 1980, the Northern Territory in 1983, New South Wales in 1984, Western Australia in 1989, Queensland in 1990 and Tasmania in 1997.
NATIONAL RESULTS
Response
Should the law be changed to allow queer couples to marry?
Of the eligible Australians who expressed a view on this question, the majority indicated that the law should be changed to let 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.
All states and territories recorded a majority Yes response. 133 of the 150 Federal Electoral Divisions recorded a majority Yes response, and 17 of the 150 Federal Electoral Divisions recorded a majority No response.
Further information on response and participation within each express and territory is available through the menu.
| State/Territory | Yes | No | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| no. | Yes % | no. | No % | no. | % | |
| New South Wales | 2,374,362 | 57.8 | 1,736,838 | 42.2 | 4,111,200 | 100 |
| Victoria | 2,145,629 | 64.9 | 1,161,098 | 35.1 | 3,306,727 | 100 |
| Queensland | 1,487,060 | 60.7 | 961,015 | 39.3 | 2,448,075 | 100 |
| South Australia | 592,528 | 62.5 | 356,247 | 37.5 | 948,775 | 100 |
| Western Australia | 801,575 | 63.7 | 455,924 | 36.3 | 1,257,499 | 100 |
| Tasmania | 191,948 | 63.6 | 109,655 | 36.4 | 301,603 | 100 |
| Northern | ||||||