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Australian law recognises only [[Monogamy|monogamous marriages]], being marriages of two people, including same-sex marriages, and does not recognise any other forms of union, including traditional [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] marriages,<ref name=lrc>Australian Government, Law Reform Commission - [http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/14.%20Aboriginal%20Traditional%20Marriage%3A%20Areas%20for%20Recognition/legitimacy-children-adoption Aboriginal Traditional Marriage: Areas for Recognition]</ref> [[Polygamy in Australia|polygamous]] marriages or [[concubinage]]. A person who goes through a marriage ceremony in Australia when still legally married to another person, whether under Australian law or a law of another country, commits an offence of [[bigamy]], which is subject to a maximum 5 years imprisonment,<ref name=MarrAct94>{{cite web |url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma196185/s94.html |title=''Marriage Act'' 1961, s 94}}</ref> and the marriage is void.
Since December 2017, Australian law has recognised [[same-sex marriage in Australia]] whether entered into in Australia or abroad.<ref>''[[Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017]]''</ref><ref name="ABC News">{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-07/same-sex-marriage-bill-passes-house-of-representatives/9235560|title=Same-sex marriage bill passes House of Representatives, paving way for first gay weddings|work=ABC News|date=7 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="abc.net.au">{{cite news|title=When can you lodge your Notice for Intended Marriage?|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-07/when-can-you-lodge-your-notice-for-intended-marriage-forms/9238438|accessdate=7 December 2017|work=ABC News|date=7 December 2017|language=en-AU}}</ref> The original 1961 Marriage Act did not include a definition of marriage, leaving it to the courts to apply the common law definition.<ref name="ReferenceB">The definition is found in ''[[Hyde v Hyde]]'' (1866) {L.R.} 1 P. & D. 130: "I conceive that marriage, as understood in Christendom, may for this purpose be defined as the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others".</ref><ref name="Michael 2016">{{Cite journal |last=Michael |first=Quinlan |date=2016|title=Marriage, Tradition, Multiculturalism and the Accommodation of Difference in Australia|url=https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/undalr/vol18/iss1/3/|journal=The University of Notre Dame Australia Law Review |language=en |volume=18|issue=1|issn=1441-9769}}</ref> The [[Marriage Act 1961 (Australia)#Amendments
A marriage must be entered into with the full consent of both parties, and it is an offence to force someone to marry them or another person, by the use of coercion, threat or deception, and whether in Australia or abroad. Full consent assumes a mental capacity to understand the nature of a marriage.
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The couple must wait at least one month after giving their marriage celebrant the Notice of Intended Marriage before the wedding ceremony. Both parties to the marriage must be present at the ceremony, with [[proxy marriage]]s not permitted. The marriage celebrant and two [[witness]]es over the age of 18 years must also be present,<ref>Marriage Act 1961, s.44</ref> besides other guests. The witnesses must sign the certificate prepared by the celebrant.
The celebrant is required to recite the prescribed words to solemnise the marriage.<ref>Marriage Act 1961, s.46</ref> Otherwise, almost anything is permitted. The civil celebrant is obliged to assist couples to compose or choose an appropriate ceremony and provide a rehearsal if the couple require it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Code of Practice for Marriage Celebrants |url=https://www.ag.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-03/Code_of_practice_for_marriage_celebrants.pdf |website=Attorney-General of Australia |publisher=Australian Government |access-date=18 August 2023 |ref=Section 5 a}}</ref> For example, it can be at any venue, indoors or outdoors, at any day or time,<ref>Marriage Act 1961, s.43</ref> and follow any tradition or custom, or none at all.
==Recognition of foreign marriages==
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The ''Family Law Act 1975'' (Cth) replaced the previous faults-based [[divorce]] system with a [[no-fault divorce]] system, requiring only a twelve-month period of [[Marital separation|separation]].<ref name="cca"/> The 1970s saw a significant rise in the divorce rate in Australia.<ref name="saec"/> This change has been attributed to a change in social attitudes: having once been considered acceptable only if there were severe problems, divorce was now widely considered acceptable if it was the preference of the partners.<ref name="mare">{{cite book |title=Marriage and Relationship Education: What Works and How to Provide It |last=Halford |first=W. Kim |year=2011 |publisher=Guilford Press |page=13 |isbn=9781609181574 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJpXAlcItKUC |accessdate=3 August 2013}}</ref>
In 2004, the Liberal [[Howard
Until the enactment of the 2004 amendment, there was no definition in the 1961 Act of "marriage", and the [[common law]] definition used in the English case ''[[Hyde v Hyde]]'' (1866) was taken as applicable.<ref>Hyde v. Hyde and Woodmansee [http://www.uniset.ca/other/ths/LR1PD130.html {L.R.} 1 P. & D. 130].</ref> The definition pronounced by Lord Penzance in the case was: "I conceive that marriage, as understood in Christendom, may for this purpose be defined as the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others".<ref>[http://webdb.lse.ac.uk/gender/Casefinaldetail.asp?id=1&pageno=4 ''Hyde v Hyde'' casenote] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20140329005746/http://webdb.lse.ac.uk/gender/Casefinaldetail.asp?id=1&pageno=4 |date=2014-03-29 }}.</ref> The 2004 amendment also banned the recognition of same-sex marriages performed in a foreign country.<ref>The 2004 Amendment inserted 88EA "Certain unions are not marriages" into the 1961 Act.</ref> The definition of marriage was added to the wedding ceremony speeches as a monitum; without it, ceremonies would be considered invalid.<ref>{{cite news|title=Couples seek to bypass 'downer' legal passage in wedding vows|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-01/couples-seek-to-bypass-legal-passage-in-wedding-vows/6511234|accessdate=10 December 2017|work=ABC News|date=1 June 2015|language=en-AU}}</ref>
In 2009, the Labor [[Rudd
The 2014 ''Marriage Amendment (Celebrant Administration and Fees) Act'' amended the ''Marriage Act 1961'' in relation to celebrants and other issues.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2014A00025 | title=Marriage Amendment (Celebrant Administration and Fees) Act 2014 }}</ref>
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===Same-sex marriage===
{{See also|Same-sex marriage in Australia|History of same-sex marriage in Australia|Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey}}
The ''[[Marriage Act 1961 (Australia)|Marriage Act 1961]]'' was amended in December 2017 by the ''[[Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017]]'' to amend the definition of marriage and to recognise same-sex marriage in Australia whether entered into in Australia or abroad.<ref name="ABC News"/><ref name="abc.net.au"/> The original Marriage Act did not include a definition of marriage, leaving it to the courts to apply the common law definition.<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="Michael 2016"/> The [[Marriage Act 1961 (Australia)#Amendments
Since 2009, same-sex couples were included in Australia's ''de facto'' relationship laws, unions which provide couples with most, though not all, of the same rights as married couples.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-21/same-sex-marriage-legal-rights-married-defacto-couples-explained/8964368|title=SSM: What legal benefits do married couples have that de facto couples do not?|work=ABC News|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=21 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fla1975114/s4aa.html|title=FAMILY LAW ACT 1975 - SECT 4AA De facto relationships|website=www.austlii.edu.au|access-date=2016-09-23}}</ref> Same-sex and opposite-sex de facto couples can continue to access [[Recognition of same-sex unions in Australia#Registered relationships|domestic partnership registries]] in [[New South Wales]], [[Tasmania]], [[South Australia]] and [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]. Civil partnerships/unions are performed in [[Queensland]] and the [[Australian Capital Territory]]. [[Western Australia]] and the [[Northern Territory]] do not recognise civil unions, civil partnerships or a [[relationship register]], but do recognise the unregistered cohabitation of ''de facto'' couples under their laws.
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**[https://www.couplecounselling.com.au Associated Relationship & Marriage Counsellors] - Association of Marriage Guidance Professionals
{{Oceania topic|Marriage in}}
[[Category:Marriage, unions and partnerships in Australia| ]]▼
[[Category:Marriage by country|Australia]]
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