This morning the results of the Australian marriage law survey were released, and Australians were overwhelmingly in favour of allowing same-sex couples to marry with 61.6% of respondents voting yes. The results of the survey are not binding, so we're still dependent on our politicians to now take action.
What would it look like if politicians voted in line with their electorates? Here's a visualisation of the results combined with some of the 2016 Australian census data.
Keep scrolling down for more.
Australia has 150 federal electorates. The coalition government is formed from representatives from the Liberal,
Liberal-National and National parties.
Representatives from Labor, the Greens,
Nick Xenophon Team, Katter's Australian party and
two independents hold the remaining seats.
The Australian marriage survey asked a single question: should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry? Australians responded either yes or no.
In 133 electorates the majority of eligible responses were YES.
In 17 electorates the majority of eligible responses were NO.
The results can be further broken down by state.
We can line up the electorates in order of how they responded. Those at the top had the highest percentage of YES responses
and those at the bottom had the lowest.
The survey responses were anonymous, but we can combine the results with data from the 2016 Australian Census for a few more insights.
The strongest support for both yes and no was found in some of the youngest electorates such as Melbourne, Sydney and Blaxland.
However, it's important to note that the median age of the electorate includes people who are not eligible to vote, such as children.
Support for same-sex marriage was higher in those electorates that are less religious.
Electorates with higher personal incomes also had stronger support for same-sex marriage.
Participation in the marriage law survey was voluntary, and the overall participation rate of 79.5% was high compared to some other voluntary surveys and votes around the world.
We've been zooming in on this chart. Let's rescale the chart to show the strength of support more clearly.
If we draw a line at the 50% mark, the majority of Australians and electorates are in favour of changing the law to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Australia has spoken. Now it's time for our politicians to act.
