Marriage Act 1961 (Australia)

The Marriage Act 1961(Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia which regulates marriage in Australia. Since its passage in 1961, it has been amended on numerous occasions and applies uniformly throughout Australia (including its external territories); and any law made by a state or territory inconsistent with the Act is invalid. The Act was made under the power granted to the federal parliament under section 51(xxi) of the Australian Constitution. Before the passage of the Act, each state and territory had its own marriage laws.

An amendment to the Act to legalise same-sex marriage passed into law on 9 December 2017. Marriage is defined as "the union of 2 people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life."

The Marriage Act 1961 regulates the contracting of marriages within Australia and sets marriage impediments. The Act only recognises monogamous marriages that comply with the requirements of the Act; other forms of union, including traditional Aboriginal marriages, are not recognised. However, the Family Law Act 1975, which deals with certain aspects of family law, including divorce, property division upon the end of a relation, parenting arrangements between separated parents (whether married or not), financial maintenance, and family violence, treats as marriages for the purposes outlined in that act other forms of relationships also, such as de facto relationships (since 2009, the Family Law Act 1975 has recognised the property rights of each partner of de facto relationships on separation ), and also states that "For the purpose of proceedings under this Act, a union in the nature of a marriage which is, or has at any time been, polygamous, being a union entered into in a place outside Australia, shall be deemed to be a marriage". The Family Law Act 1975, which came into force on 5 January 1976, also introduced no fault divorce in Australian law, repealing the previous Matrimonial Causes Act 1961, which had been largely based on fault.