Marriage Act Amendment (Recognition of Foreign Marriages for Same-Sex Couples) Bill 2013 Introduced to Commonwealth Parliament

In a bill introduced yesterday in the House of Representatives, the Marriage Act Amendment (Recognition of Foreign Marriages for Same-Sex Couples) Bill 2013, same-sex couples who decide to get married in a foreign country may have their union recognised at law.

The Marriage Act Amendment (Recognition of Foreign Marriages for Same-Sex Couples) Bill 2013 amends the Marriage Act 1961 to ensure that marriages that are validly entered into in foreign countries can be recognised under the laws of Australia.

In particular, the Bill if passed, would add a new Section 88EA to the Marriage Act 1961 (CTH) explicitly establishing that unions solemnised in a foreign country that are to be legally recognised as a marriage in Australia include unions between a man and another man, and a woman and another woman.

As stated in the Second Reading Speech by Senator Hanson-Young,

"There a number of countries that recognise international same sex marriages without having domestic laws to perform same-sex marriages, including Israel, Slovenia, Japan and the Netherlands.

Couples from those countries can marry in one of the fourteen countries which have marriage equality, such as Argentina, the Netherlands, France or New Zealand, and then return to have their marriage recognised under the laws of their homeland.

It makes legal and moral sense for Australians to have the same privilege. These married couples are not the legal strangers that our laws say they are. Rather, they are two committed, loving, validly married people under the laws of a foreign nation and they should be recognised under Australian as such."

All information about the Bill gained from TimeBase LawOne Service.

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