Australians have voted in favour of legalising same-sex marriage

People were asked their views in a survey sent out by the country’s Bureau of Statistics. It is non-binding, however politicians are expected to follow the results of the poll – the country will then become the 26th nation to legalise same-sex marriage. More than three quarters of the country’s eligible voters took part in the vote. The government pledged to put a proposal to parliament if voters were in favour of same-sex marriage.

Australian statistician David Kalisch announced the results in the country’s capital Canberra, with 7,817,247 of the ballots cast saying yes, compared to 4,873,987 opposed to the idea. Across all six states in Australia, the yes vote won – ranging from 64.9% in Victoria to 57.8% in New South Wales – and both the Northern Territory (60.6%) and Australian Capital Territory (74%) also voted in favour of the proposal. Congratulations!