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Same-sex marriage signed into Australian law
Australian same-sex couples will be able to marry from early 2018 after Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove signed the Marriage Amendment Act this morning.
Australian Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove (right) signs the Marriage Amendment Act alongside Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Attorney-General George Brandis. Image: AAP/Lukas Coch
The signing of the legislation comes after the House of Representatives yesterday voted in favour of changing the Marriage Act and allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry. The same-sex marriage bill had been debated throughout the week, with close to 100 MPs introducing various amendments.
Same-sex weddings will be able to take place from 9 January 2018.
The parliamentary vote followed Australia’s Marriage Law Postal Survey. A total of 12,727,920 eligible Australians participated in the survey, with 61.6% voting ‘yes’ and 38.4% voting ‘no’.
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