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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NATIONAL RESULTS

Response

Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?

Of the eligible Australians who expressed a view on this question, the majority indicated that the law should be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry, with 7,817,247 (61.6%) responding Yes and 4,873,987 (38.4%) responding No. Nearly 8 out of 10 eligible Australians (79.5%) expressed their view.

All states and territories recorded a majority Yes response. 133 of the 150 Federal Electoral Divisions recorded a majority Yes response, and 17 of the 150 Federal Electoral Divisions recorded a majority No response.

Further information on response and participation within each state and territory is available through the menu.

Infographic showing the Yes (61.6% or 7,817,247) and No (38.4% or 4,873,987) response percentages and numbers at the national level and the Yes and No response percentages and numbers at the state and territory level. More details following.
State/Territory Yes No Total
no. Yes % no. No % no. %
New South Wales 2,374,362 57.8 1,736,838 42.2 4,111,200 100
Victoria 2,145,629 64.9 1,161,098 35.1 3,306,727 100
Queensland 1,487,060 60.7 961,015 39.3 2,448,075 100
South Australia 592,528 62.5 356,247 37.5 948,775 100
Western Australia 801,575 63.7 455,924 36.3 1,257,499 100
Tasmania 191,948 63.6 109,655 36.4 301,603 100
Northern Territory(a) 48,686 60.6 31,690 39.4 80,376 100
Australian Capital Territory(b) 175,459 74.0 61,520 26.0 236,979 100
Australia (Total) 7,817,247 61.6 4,873,987 38.4 12,691,234 100
(a) Includes Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (within the Division of Lingiari).
(b) Includes Jervis Bay (within the Division of Fenner) and Norfolk Island (within the Division of Canberra).


Participation

12,727,920 (79.5%) eligible Australians participated in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.

Females were more likely to participate than males. Nationally, 81.6% (6,644,192) of eligible females and 77.3% (5,980,168) of eligible males participated in the survey.

Those aged 70 to 74 were the most likely to respond to the survey, with 89.6% of eligible Australians in this age group participating. The participation rate was lowest in those aged 25 to 29 at 71.9%. The youngest age group of eligible Australians (those aged 18-19 years) were more likely (78.2%) to participate than any other age group under the age of 45 years.

Infographic showing the overall participation rate (79.5%) at the national level and state and territory level, and the participation rate by gender and age group. More details following.
Eligible participants
State/Territory Total responding(a) Non-responding Total
no. Total responding(b) % no. Non-responding % no. %
New South Wales 4,122,236 79.5 1,065,445 20.5 5,187,681 100
Victoria 3,317,755 81.7 743,634 18.3 4,061,389 100
Queensland 2,455,163 77.9 695,710 22.1 3,150,873 100
South Australia 951,553 79.7 242,027 20.3 1,193,580 100
Western Australia 1,260,687 78.4 346,333 21.6 1,607,020 100
Tasmania 302,408 79.7 77,020 20.3 379,428 100
Northern Territory(b) 80,605 58.4 57,496 41.6 138,101 100
Australian Capital Territory(c) 237,513 82.4 50,595 17.6 288,108 100
Australia (Total) 12,727,920 79.5 3,278,260 20.5 16,006,180 100
(a) Includes response not clear and blank responses.
(b) Includes Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (within the Division of Lingiari).
(c) Includes Jervis Bay (within the Division of Fenner) and Norfolk Island (within the Division of Canberra).