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Same-sex marriage is legal in the Australian Capital Territory, and in the rest of Australia, after the Federal Parliament legalised same-sex marriage in December 2017.[1]
The Australian Capital Territory is unique in being the only state or territory jurisdiction in Australia to have independently legalised same-sex marriage. The High Court of Australia nullified a same-sex marriage law that had been passed by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) legislature on 19 September 2013. The Abbott government challenged the law shortly after passage and the High Court voided the legislation on 12 December 2013. The 31 same-sex marriages that had been performed under the ACT legislation were consequently void.[2]
The ACT was the first jurisdiction in Australia to legally recognise same-sex couples in 1994. It was the second to allow joint adoption petitions by same-sex couples in 2003, following Western Australia. It also is the first (and currently, only) jurisdiction to allow Civil unions after its Civil Unions Act passed the Legislative Assembly in 2012.[3][4] Previously, identical legislation was successfully rejected by the federal Howard government in 2006.[5] In 2013, the Legislative Assembly voted to legalise same-sex marriage,[6] but this law was struck down by the Australian High Court.