Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey

Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?

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.

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 state and territory is available through the menu.

Long description for Response_infographic.gif The top half of the infographic is presented as two pie charts, one for Yes, and one for No. They provide an overall summary of the response data from the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey at the national level. The survey question asked "Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?" Of the eligible Australians who expressed a view on this question, 61.6% responded Yes and 38.4% responded No. The bottom half of the infographic is a horizontal bar graph which presents the response data at the state and territory level. New South Wales had 2,374,362 eligible electors who expressed a view (57.8%) respond Yes and 1,736,838 (42.2%) respond No. Victoria had 2,145,629 eligible electors who expressed a view (64.9%) respond Yes and 1,161,098 (35.1%) respond No. Queensland had 1,487,060 eligible electors who expressed a view (60.7%) respond Yes and 961,015 (39.3%) respond No. South Australia had 592,528 eligible electors who expressed a view (62.5%) respond Yes and 356,247 (37.5%) respond No. Western Australia had 801,575 eligible electors who expressed a view (63.7%) respond Yes and 455,924 (36.3%) respond No. Tasmania had 191,948 eligible electors who expressed a view (63.6%) respond Yes and 109,655 (36.4%) respond No. Northern Territory had 48,686 eligible electors who expressed a view (60.6%) respond Yes and 31,690 (39.4%) respond No. Australian Capital Territory had 175,459 eligible electors who expressed a view (74.0%) respond Yes and 61,520 (26.0%) respond No.

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 Territory(a) 48,686 60.6 31,690 39.4 80,376 100 Australian Capital Territory(b) 175,459 74.0 61,520 26.0 236,979 100 Australia (Total) 7,817,247 61.6 4,873,987 38.4 12,691,234 100 (a) Includes Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (within the Division of Lingiari). (b) Includes Jervis Bay (within the Division of Fenner) and Norfolk Island (within the Division of Canberra).

12,727,920 (79.5%) eligible Australians participated in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.

Females were more likely to participate than males. Nationally, 81.6% (6,644,192) of eligible females and 77.3% (5,980,168) of eligible males participated in the survey.

Those aged 70 to 74 were the most likely to respond to the survey, with 89.6% of eligible Australians in this age group participating. The participation rate was lowest in those aged 25 to 29 at 71.9%. The youngest age group of eligible Australians (those aged 18-19 years) were more likely (78.2%) to participate than any other age group under the age of 45 years.

Long description for Participation_infographic.gif The top half of the infographic is presented as an image of Australia with the participation rate (79.5%) in the centre. To the right of the image of Australia there is a pie chart style image representing the participation (79.5%) with an image of a letter and a mailbox in the centre. Below the national figures is a horizontal bar graph which presents the participation rate at the state and territory level. New South Wales had 4,122,236 eligible electors (79.5%) respond to the survey. Victoria had 3,317,755 eligible electors (81.7%) respond to the survey. Queensland had 2,455,163 eligible electors (77.9%) respond to the survey. South Australia had 951,553 eligible electors (79.7%) respond to the survey. Western Australia had 1,260,687 eligible electors (78.4%) respond to the survey. Tasmania had 302,408 eligible electors (79.7%) respond to the survey. Northern Territory had 80,605 eligible electors (58.4%) respond to the survey. Australian Capital Territory had 237,513 eligible electors (82.4%) respond to the survey. The bottom half of the infographic presents the participation number and rate for females and males. 81.6% (6,644,192) of eligible females provided a response to the survey and 77.3% (5,980,168) of eligible males provided a response to the survey. Following the national male and female participation figures, there is a horizontal bar graph representing the participation rates for each gender within each age group. For those aged 18-19 81.1% of females and 75.1% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 20-24 75.9% of females and 68.9% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 25-29 75.5% of females and 68.3% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 30-34 75.6% of females and 69.2% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 35-39 76.3% of females and 70.4% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 40-44 78.3% of females and 72.5% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 45-49 80.8% of females and 75.6% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 50-54 83.0% of females and 78.5% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 55-59 85.3% of females and 81.8% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 60-64 87.3% of females and 84.8% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 65-69 89.1% of females and 87.6% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 70-74 89.8% of females and 89.3% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 75-79 88.7% of females and 89.4% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 80-84 86.0% of females and 87.9% of males provided a response to the survey. For those aged 85 years and over 78.8% of females and 82.9% of males provided a response to the survey.