Marriage equality on the horizon in the ACT

The Canberra Times has reported that the ACT is set to become the first Australian jurisdiction to legalise same sex marriage with the introduction of a new same-sex marriage bill planned for Thursday. It is expected that the Legislative assembly will debate and pass the same-sex marriage laws in October and has promised to vigorously contest any federal or court challenge to the laws.  The reform was promised by ACT Labor prior to last year’s territory election and with the support of Greens Minister Rattenbury has the numbers required for the bill to pass.

The Bill

The new legislation will not have a residency requirement allowing same-sex couples from other jurisdictions to have a marriage ceremony in the ACT by an authorised marriage celebrant.

According to Attorney-General Simon Corbell the new laws are modelled on legislation planned to be introduced into the NSW Parliament, widely anticipated by the end of the year.

''I think we've seen that this issue is a matter that people feel very strongly about,'' Mr Corbell said. ''We've seen some attempts in other state parliaments to legislate without success.

A High Court Challenge?

The legislation may be open to a High Court challenge and Christian lobbyists have already advised they will pressure the Abbott government to override the laws in the Federal Parliament. Prior to the recent changes to the Australian Capital Territory (Self Government Act) 1988 (Cth), the federal government had the power to veto territory laws by advising the Governor-General to disallow them. However under the new changes a vote in both houses in the Federal Parliament is required to overturn laws.

The Road to Equality

The ACT government has a long history of supporting laws to acknowledge same-sex partnerships, dating back to its 2006 civil unions legislation, which was quashed by the Howard government but re-enacted last year.
Whilst the ACT may be the first to pass same-sex marriage legislation, the movement is gaining momentum in other jurisdictions, with many saying marriage equality is only a matter of time.

Last year a Tasmanian same-sex marriage bill was narrowly defeated in the Tasmanian Upper House, after passing the Lower House. In July this year the South Australian Parliament voted against a same-sex marriage bill.

Despite reports that the overwhelming majority of Australians support marriage equality, some groups remain vocally opposed to legislative reform. Lyle Shelton, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, recently commented that the Federal Parliament should be prepared to override an ACT same-sex marriage law:

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Canberra Times article