With an overwhelming ‘Yes‘ vote from the public and the passage of a bill through the Senate this week, the only meaningful thing standing between Australians and marriage equality is the House of Representatives. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he’s “confident” that marriage equality will make it through the lower house this week, and one the Governor-General has signed off on the legislation, same-sex couples will finally have equal recognition under law.
Couples who already affirmed their relationships overseas prior to the passage of the new laws will have an additional reason to celebrate – the current law does not recognise same-sex marriages solemnised overseas, but Senator Dean Smith‘s bill will erase this ban retrospectively. This means that thousands of couples who already wed in other countries will wake up to find themselves legally married in Australia, with no additional hurdles to clear.
Speaking with Fairfax this week, Anna Brown of the Australian Human Rights Law Centre said that once the Marriage Act is changed, there will be no bar to already-married couples having their relationships recognised. She explained:
“There’ll be no need to register your overseas marriage or take any steps – the recognition will simply follow the law coming into effect. Regardless of whether you were married in 2007 or you’re planning to get married in 2018, your marriage will be recognised.”
Close to 1000 same-sex Australian couples have married in New Zealand since that country changed its laws in 2013, and many more have chosen to the the knot in America, Canada, the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. Couples who married on Australian soil at foreign consulates will also have their marriages automatically recognised by Smith’s bill.
