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Further implications
Same-sex marriage will only become legal in Australia when a majority of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate support it.
The Australian House of Representatives contains 150 seats. On 19 September 2012, a bill introduced by Labor MP Stephen Jones aimed at legalising same-sex marriage was defeated 42 to 98 votes. Labor MPs were allowed a conscience vote while Liberal Party Leader Tony Abbott did not allow a free vote for Liberal Party MPs. However, Liberal frontbencher Kevin Andrews said, '(We) counted the numbers ... The reality is it would not have made much difference whatsoever to the numbers. There would have been half a dozen people... who would have voted the other way.'
In May 2015 some Labor MPs such as Chris Bowen and Julie Owens announced their newfound support of same-sex marriage, though they implied they might vote in favour of it in the Parliament only if the Labor Party retained its conscience vote on the matter rather than binding all MPs and Senators in favour of the reform.
On July 27, 2019, the Labor Party agreed to retain a conscience vote on the issue until 2019. This was probably a wise tactical move, as there may have been some opponents of same-sex marriage within the Opposition who would have been prepared to cross the floor on the issue had their Party attempted to force them to vote in favour of it.
Retaining a conscience vote throughout the term of the next Parliament removes what may have been a source of controversy within the Labor Party, while clearly indicating the Party's support for same-sex marriage. The move may well provide encouragement for supporters of a conscience vote within the Coalition to push their leader to allow it.
Only time will reveal when a majority of Australia's parliamentarians will support such amending legislation.