More than half of the 3,000 same-sex couples who married in Australia in the first half of 2018 were female, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
On Tuesday, the ABS released data showing a total of 3,149 same-sex weddings were held in Australia between December 9 last year, when amendments to the Marriage Act came into effect, and June 30 this year.
The three states with the greatest numbers of weddings in the six-month period were New South Wales, with 1,090 (34.6%); Victoria, with 826 (26.2%); and Queensland, with 595 (18.9%).
James Eynstone-Hinkins, director of the ABS Health and Vitals Statistics Section, said distinct differences between male and female same-sex marriages could be seen in the data.
“There were more female same-sex couples marrying, representing 56.3 per cent (1,773) of the total registrations by 30 June 2018 compared to 43.7 per cent (1,376) for male same-sex couples,” he said.
“In addition, the median age at which male same-sex couples got married was almost 10 years older than females – 48.5 years compared to 39 years.
“The most popular time for same-sex couples to get married was March, accounting for 22.7 per cent (714) of marriages over the six month period.”
Marriage equality legislation was passed in December last year but most couples had to wait a further 30 days before being able to tie the knot.
In October this year – just weeks before the one year anniversary of the “yes” vote in the postal survey – Queensland reached the milestone of 1000 registered same-sex marriages, with 60% of them between female couples.
In March, it was revealed the first same-sex marriage took place in Queensland on December 15 last year.
Authorities granted a special exemption to Jo Grant and Jill Kindt to waive the 30-day waiting period so Grant could tie the knot before she lost her battle with terminal cancer.
Just a week after the passage of marriage equality, the couple held a marriage ceremony in front of family and friends in the garden of their beachside property at Coolum.
Jo sadly passed away on January 30, after 48 days of legal marriage.
Census data from 2016 showed 46,800 same-sex couples living together in Australia, a figure which accounts for 0.9% of all couples.
