Marriage in Australia

History

In colonial New South Wales marriage was often an arrangement of convenience. For female convicts marriage was a way of escaping incarceration and land leases were denied to those who were unmarried.

A federal Marriage Act was passed in 1961 which set uniform Australia-wide rules for recognition and solemnisation of marriages. Prior to this Act, the states and territories administered their own marriage laws. The Commonwealth Family Law Act of 1975 made it easier to divorce and removed the concept of fault, requiring only a twelve-month period of partners' separation.

The 1970s saw a significant rise in the divorce rate in Australia. A change in social attitudes from divorce being only acceptable if there were severe problems towards divorce being acceptable if that is the preference of the partners is attributed to this change.

Since 2009, Australia has recognised de facto relationships of any gender within the Family Law Act 1975.

Marriage Amendment Act 2004

The 2014 Marriage Amendment (Celebrant Administration and Fees) Act amended the Marriage Act 1961 in relation to celebrants, and for other purposes.

Social change

The Australian Burearu of Statistics notes that "The proportion of adults living with a partner has declined during the last two decades, from 65% in 1986, to 61% in 2006". The proportion of Australians who are married fell from 62% to 52% over the same period.

Common-law marriage has increased significantly in recent decades from 4% to 9% between 1986 and 2006. It is often a prelude to marriage and reflects the shift to attain financial independence before having children. In 2015, 81.0% of all those marrying had been living together.

Civil Celebrants Since 1999 Civil celebrants have overseen the majority of marriages. In 2015, 74.9 per cent of all marriages were solemnised by a civil celebrant,.

Attitudes to Women, Marriage and Work The Commonwealth Public Service placed a bar on employment of married women meaning that married women could only be employed as temporary staff. Any female employee was required to resign upon being married. This bar restricted female promotion opportunities. This bar was lifted in 1966.

In 1971, more than three quarters of women surveyed placed being a mother before their career. By 1991 this figure had dropped to just one quarter. By the 1980s the trend towards a delay of first marriage in Australia was evident. In 1989, more than one woman in five had not married by the age of 30.

Divorce in Australia The crude divorce rate was 2.0 divorces per 1,000 estimated resident population in 2014 and 2015, down from 2.1 in 2013. The median duration from marriage to divorce in 2015 was 12.1 years with a median age at divorce for males was 45.3 years of age and the median age of females was 42.7 years of age.

Same Sex Marriage In 2004, the Marriage Amendment Act defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life. Since then there have been 16 attempts to have marriage equality in Australia. The 2011 Census, recorded 33,700 same-sex couples in Australia. 17,600 were male same-sex couples and 16,100 were female same-sex couples. Same-sex couples represented about 1% of all couples in Australia.

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage is not permitted in Australia. Since 2004 there have been 16 attempts to have same-sex marriage legalised. In Australia, marriage is defined under the Marriage Amendment Act in 2004 which reads:

Marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

In 2009, the Australian Government included de facto couples of any gender, under the Family Law Act (1975). This allowed de facto couples of any gender, the same property rights as married couples.

Same-sex couples have access to domestic partnership registries in New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia (sometime in 2017) and Victoria. Civil partnerships are performed in Queensland. Civil unions are performed in the Australian Capital Territory.

Both Western Australia and the Northern Territory have no access of recognition of civil unions, civil partnerships or a relationship register.

Arguments against same sex marriage

Those advocating the retention of the existing Marriage Act, have said:

that marriage has been defined as a heterosexual union "throughout history, transcending time, religions, cultures, and people" and that, "the modern state recognises and regulates marriage because of its importance to the good of society". There are implications for Freedom of religion and Freedom of thought following any legislated change.

that the institution of marriage involving a woman and a man for the purpose of having children is one of the bedrocks of Australian society and is common across cultures and has existed for generations. There are good reasons as to why it is so enduring.

that the institution of marriage involving a woman and a man provides health benefits for society.

that up until now there have been too many, "slogans, emotional spin and almost unprecedented public bullying of opponents" and that, "we should resist being railroaded into this social change too quickly". There are, "debates within gay communities" as to, "what sort of marriages do homosexual people want?"

that the word marriage isn’t a label that can transferred to various relationships, as it "has an intrinsic or natural meaning prior to anything we may invent or the state may legislate.

Implications

For adults

Concern has been raised by both Catholic and Anglican church leaders that if same-sex marriage is legislated, there is the probability of restrictions in religious freedom.

Same-sex marriage, with its emphasis on gender neutrality nullifies commonly understood gender pronouns such as husband & wife and bride & groom. Terms such as man & woman and father & mother become "interchangeable social constructs". Similarly, the terms dad & mum and male & female (particularly as reported, a third of transgender people do not identify as male nor female) all become valueless.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church has said, "By logic, if marriage can be redefined as not exclusive to a man and woman then that redefinition can apply to any number of unions and relationships." A convenor of the ACT Greens party has said when same-sex marriage is limited to, "two consenting adults [this] discriminates against others in the gay community, including polyamorists". He accused the Australian Greens of being "hypocrites" because the logic they use to argue for marriage equality should extend to people who have multiple partners. While Sarah Hanson-Young says that the, "institution of marriage should involve only two consenting adults",

While there have been studies carried out on the children of LGBT parents, with some supporting same-sex parenting, and some not, an American sociologist has stated that it is, "too early for social scientists to make far-reaching conclusions about families headed by same-sex couples".

For children

Some critics or marriage equality have warned that changes to the Marriage Act will have a detrimental effect on children. The Australian Marriage Forum has claimed that children have a birth-right, wherever possible, to both a mother and father, with same-sex marriage being a calculated decision by which a child is forced to miss out on a mother or a father with governments being in the marriage business, "because the union of a man and woman can produce a child and children need a mum and a dad."

Australian Marriage Equality national director, Rodney Croome, responded by stating that “The Australian Marriage Forum campaign is actually harming the many Australian children being raised by same-sex couples because it defends discrimination against their families.”