Marriage Equality in the ACT LGBTIQA+

Marriage Equality in the ACT has been a rollercoaster of events dating back to 13 September 2013, when the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government announced that it would introduce a bill to legalise same-sex marriage, following a decade-long attempt to legislate in the area. The Marriage Equality Bill 2013 would enable couples who are not able to marry under the Commonwealth Marriage Act 1961 to enter into marriage in the ACT. 

Under the legislation, same-sex marriages were allowed to be performed in the ACT from 7 December 2013.   Couples were required to give a minimum one month’s notice of intention to marry and 47 couples were eligible to marry in the period between 7 and 12 December, when the High Court struck down the law. In total, 31 same-sex couples elected to marry in the 5-day period between the law’s implementation and its subsequent annulment by the High Court. 

In 2017 the ACT led the nation in voting to legalise same-sex marriage, returning 74% support for changing the law, allowing same-sex couples to marry.

For more information please visit the same-sex marriage in the Australian Capital Territory Wikipedia page