Bills Digest No. 5 2004–05
Marriage Amendment Bill 2004
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have
any official legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine
the subsequent official status of the Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Concluding Comments
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Passage History
Marriage
Amendment Bill 2004
Date Introduced:
24 June 2004
House:
House of Representatives
Portfolio:
Attorney-General
Commencement:
Royal Assent
This Bill has the following purposes:
-
To formally define ‘marriage’ in the Marriage Act 1961,
and
-
To ensure that same sex marriages are not recognised as marriage
in Australia, inclusive of those performed under the laws of another
country that permits such unions.
The pre-cursor to the Marriage Amendment Bill 2004
(‘the current Bill’) is the Marriage Legislation Amendment Bill 2004
(‘the first Bill’). Introduced on 27 May 2004, it proposed to amend
the Marriage Act 1961 to define ‘marriage’ and prevent same sex
couples from adopting children from overseas countries.
The first Bill passed the House of Representatives
on 17 June 2004 and was introduced into the Senate the following day.
It was referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee
on 23 June 2004 with the Committee scheduled to release a report by
7 October 2004.
The current Bill replicates Schedule 1 of the first
Bill with provisions defining marriage. Further comments and a comprehensive
analysis of the provisions of the first Bill are available in Bills
Digest 155 2003-04, Marriage Legislation Amendment Bill 2004(1).
The Government’s haste to have the current Bill passed
appears to be linked to two applications filed in court to have same
sex marriages performed within the laws of another country recognised
under Australian law(2). This Bill amends the Marriage
Act 1961 to prevent the recognition of same-sex marriages in Australia,
even where the marriage has been performed under the laws of another
country which does recognise this type of union.
In addition the Government has also indicated that
the need for Parliament to give its immediate attention to the current
Bill is related to expressions of ‘significant community concern about
the possible erosion of the institution of marriage’(3).
It is the Attorney-General’s opinion that Parliament’s quick action
is needed to address these community concerns.
The Marriage Amendment Bill 2004 contains those provisions
of the Marriage Legislation Amendment Bill 2004 which the Australian
Labor Party stipulated it would support in a press release issued on
1 June 2004(4). Shadow Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon MP,
reiterated during the second reading of the current Bill that the Labor
Party would agree to the measures it contains. However, the Party expressed
reservations about the process on two grounds. The first, questioned
the Government’s claims that the issue of gay marriage was of such
major community concern that it warranted the need to be dealt with
urgently. The second raised the point that the first Bill has already
been referred to a Senate committee, the report from which is yet to
be released(5).
The Greens have labelled both the current and the first
Bill discriminatory ‘against the gay and lesbian community’ and condemned
both the Government and the Labor Party for failing to acknowledge the
change, within present day society, in the make up of couples(6).
In the House of Representatives, Greens MP, Michael Organ introduced
amendments to the current Bill which included provisions that acknowledged
gay and lesbian unions within the definition of marriage and also the
recognition of such unions as marriages in Australia regardless of whether
they were performed in a foreign country. These amendments were not
adopted and the current Bill passed the House of Representatives unchanged.
For an explanation of the main provisions of the current
Bill, please refer to Bills Digest 155 2003-04, Marriage Legislation
Amendment Bill 2004.
The Marriage Amendment Bill 2004 passed the House of
Representatives on 24 June 2004 however the first reading in the Senate
was negatived on the 25 June 2004.
-
Jennifer Norberry, ‘Marriage Legislation Amendment Bill 2004’,
Bills Digest,
no. 155, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2003-04.
-
House of Representatives, Hansard, 24 June 2004, p. 30563.
-
Ibid.
-
Shadow Attorney-General, Media Release, ‘Labor’s decision
on gay marriage ban entrenches discrimination,’ 1 June 2004 .
-
House of Representatives, Hansard, 24 June 2004, p. 30564.
-
House of Representatives, Hansard, 24 June 2004, p. 30565.
Kim Haines
20 July 2004
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
This paper has been prepared for general distribution to senators and
members of the Australian Parliament. While great care is taken to ensure
that the paper is accurate and balanced, the paper is written using information
publicly available at the time of production. The views expressed are
those of the author and should not be attributed to the Information and
Research Services (IRS). Advice on legislation or legal policy issues
contained in this paper is provided for use in parliamentary debate and
for related parliamentary purposes. This paper is not professional legal
opinion. Readers are reminded that the paper is not an official parliamentary
or Australian government document.
IRS staff are available to discuss the paper's contents
with Senators and Members and their staff but not with members of the
public.
ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2004
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Published by the Parliamentary Library, 2004.
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