1800.0 - Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, 2017  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 15/11/2017  First Issue
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RESULTS FOR NEW SOUTH WALES

Response

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.

Please note that the Quickstats boundaries are based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) not the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) Federal Electoral Division boundaries. For further information please see Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 3 - Non ABS Structures, July 2017 (cat. no. 1270.0.55.003)