Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?
Of eligible Australians in New South Wales (NSW) who expressed a view on this question, the majority indicated that the law should be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry, with 2,374,362 (57.8%) responding Yes and 1,736,838 (42.2%) responding No. Nearly 8 out of every 10 Australians in NSW (79.5%) expressed their view.
Response by Federal Electoral Divisions within New South Wales(a)
Federal Electoral Division
Yes
No
Total
no.
Yes %
no.
No %
no.
%
Banks
37,736
44.9
46,343
55.1
84,079
100
Barton
37,153
43.6
47,984
56.4
85,137
100
Bennelong
42,943
49.8
43,215
50.2
86,158
100
Berowra
48,471
54.6
40,369
45.4
88,840
100
Blaxland
20,406
26.1
57,926
73.9
78,332
100
Bradfield
53,681
60.6
34,927
39.4
88,608
100
Calare
54,091
60.2
35,779
39.8
89,870
100
Chifley
32,871
41.3
46,702
58.7
79,573
100
Cook
47,505
55.0
38,804
45.0
86,309
100
Cowper
57,493
60.0
38,317
40.0
95,810
100
Cunningham
60,906
65.7
31,840
34.3
92,746
100
Dobell
59,475
65.7
30,987
34.3
90,462
100
Eden-Monaro
57,223
64.9
30,926
35.1
88,149
100
Farrer
48,432
55.2
39,297
44.8
87,729
100
Fowler
27,847
36.3
48,782
63.7
76,629
100
Gilmore
59,322
62.0
36,386
38.0
95,708
100
Grayndler
73,208
79.9
18,429
20.1
91,637
100
Greenway
38,016
46.4
43,980
53.6
81,996
100
Hughes
51,337
58.4
36,558
41.6
87,895
100
Hume
51,284
58.6
36,271
41.4
87,555
100
Hunter
59,137
64.4
32,723
35.6
91,860
100
Kingsford Smith
56,297
64.1
31,510
35.9
87,807
100
Lindsay
49,071
56.2
38,295
43.8
87,366
100
Lyne
51,416
55.3
41,539
44.7
92,955
100
Macarthur
43,323
52.1
39,907
47.9
83,230
100
Mackellar
62,350
68.0
29,330
32.0
91,680
100
Macquarie
56,180
63.9
31,778
36.1
87,958
100
McMahon
29,146
35.1
53,967
64.9
83,113
100
Mitchell
42,112
49.1
43,652
50.9
85,764
100
Newcastle
71,158
74.8
23,999
25.2
95,157
100
New England
44,608
52.5
40,324
47.5
84,932
100
North Sydney
64,813
71.8
25,473
28.2
90,286
100
Page
55,943
59.7
37,727
40.3
93,670
100
Parkes
41,408
52.7
37,108
47.3
78,516
100
Parramatta
29,299
38.4
47,038
61.6
76,337
100
Paterson
60,915
65.5
32,059
34.5
92,974
100
Reid
43,567
52.7
39,061
47.3
82,628
100
Richmond
62,591
67.9
29,625
32.1
92,216
100
Riverina
47,333
54.6
39,308
45.4
86,641
100
Robertson
58,689
65.7
30,614
34.3
89,303
100
Shortland
62,455
67.7
29,836
32.3
92,291
100
Sydney
76,144
83.7
14,860
16.3
91,004
100
Warringah
64,999
75.0
21,660
25.0
86,659
100
Watson
24,915
30.4
57,160
69.6
82,075
100
Wentworth
69,279
80.8
16,410
19.2
85,689
100
Werriwa
30,252
36.3
53,174
63.7
83,426
100
Whitlam
57,562
62.3
34,879
37.7
92,441
100
New South Wales (Total)
2,374,362
57.8
1,736,838
42.2
4,111,200
100
Australia (Total)
7,817,247
61.6
4,873,987
38.4
12,691,234
100
(a) The Federal Electoral Division boundaries are current as at 24 August 2017.
Participation
4,122,236 (79.5%) eligible Australians in NSW participated in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.
Females were more likely to respond than males. In NSW, 81.3% (2,147,973) of eligible females and 77.5% (1,947,546) of eligible males responded to the survey.
In NSW, those aged 70 to 74 were the most likely to respond to the survey with 89.8% of eligible Australians in this age group participating. The participation rate was lowest in those aged 30 to 34 at 72.1%.
Participation by Federal Electoral Divisions within New South Wales(a)
Federal Electoral Division
Total responding(b)
Non-responding
Total
no.
Total responding(b) %
no.
Non-responding %
no.
%
Banks
84,326
80.1
20,928
19.9
105,254
100
Barton
85,363
78.0
24,008
22.0
109,371
100
Bennelong
86,402
81.2
19,973
18.8
106,375
100
Berowra
89,052
84.7
16,038
15.3
105,090
100
Blaxland
78,552
75.2
25,883
24.8
104,435
100
Bradfield
88,810
83.7
17,261
16.3
106,071
100
Calare
90,155
78.1
25,342
21.9
115,497
100
Chifley
79,836
73.9
28,180
26.1
108,016
100
Cook
86,538
82.2
18,713
17.8
105,251
100
Cowper
96,125
79.2
25,197
20.8
121,322
100
Cunningham
93,014
81.9
20,607
18.1
113,621
100
Dobell
90,717
78.9
24,275
21.1
114,992
100
Eden-Monaro
88,398
80.0
22,139
20.0
110,537
100
Farrer
88,006
77.4
25,669
22.6
113,675
100
Fowler
76,857
72.4
29,251
27.6
106,108
100
Gilmore
96,011
80.6
23,109
19.4
119,120
100
Grayndler
91,773
85.1
16,074
14.9
107,847
100
Greenway
82,213
76.5
25,253
23.5
107,466
100
Hughes
88,080
83.8
17,038
16.2
105,118
100
Hume
87,768
78.9
23,457
21.1
111,225
100
Hunter
92,111
78.5
25,253
21.5
117,364
100
Kingsford Smith
88,032
79.7
22,399
20.3
110,431
100
Lindsay
87,600
76.5
26,955
23.5
114,555
100
Lyne
93,271
81.3
21,426
18.7
114,697
100
Macarthur
83,458
75.4
27,271
24.6
110,729
100
Mackellar
91,888
84.0
17,500
16.0
109,388
100
Macquarie
88,193
82.7
18,490
17.3
106,683
100
McMahon
83,355
77.8
23,721
22.2
107,076
100
Mitchell
85,940
81.6
19,436
18.4
105,376
100
Newcastle
95,389
82.7
19,970
17.3
115,359
100
New England
85,188
76.9
25,581
23.1
110,769
100
North Sydney
90,479
83.8
17,538
16.2
108,017
100
Page
93,961
78.6
25,645
21.4
119,606
100
Parkes
78,757
72.6
29,777
27.4
108,534
100
Parramatta
76,534
74.8
25,757
25.2
102,291
100
Paterson
93,253
79.4
24,264
20.6
117,517
100
Reid
82,831
77.7
23,786
22.3
106,617
100
Richmond
92,490
80.3
22,719
19.7
115,209
100
Riverina
86,906
77.2
25,632
22.8
112,538
100
Robertson
89,534
81.4
20,431
18.6
109,965
100
Shortland
92,546
82.5
19,675
17.5
112,221
100
Sydney
91,150
80.5
22,093
19.5
113,243
100
Warringah
86,831
83.9
16,630
16.1
103,461
100
Watson
82,280
77.0
24,634
23.0
106,914
100
Wentworth
85,851
82.6
18,121
17.4
103,972
100
Werriwa
83,695
74.1
29,282
25.9
112,977
100
Whitlam
92,717
80.1
23,064
19.9
115,781
100
New South Wales (Total)
4,122,236
79.5
1,065,445
20.5
5,187,681
100
Australia (Total)
12,727,920
79.5
3,278,260
20.5
16,006,180
100
(a) The Federal Electoral Division boundaries are current as at 24 August 2017.
(b) Includes response not clear and blank responses.
For more detailed information on response and participation, download the results spreadsheets from the Downloads.
To find out more about the characteristics of New South Wales electoral divisions see Quickstats.