Right: former champion swimmer Ian Thorpe lent his support to the YES case by appearing in a television advertisement.
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Background information
Background
(Most of the information below has been drawn from a Wikipedia entry titled 'History of same-sex marriage in Australia'.
The full text can be accessed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_same-sex_marriage_in_Australia)
Current legal situation in Australia regarding same-sex marriage
In 2004 the Howard government amended the Marriage Act 1961 to state explicitly that marriage was a contract that could be entered into only by a man and a woman. The Howard government argued that the only reason that this designation was not already part of the Act was that its original framers had not considered any other combination of genders would seek to marry.
Although a same-sex marriage law was passed by the Australian Capital Territory in 2013, it was struck down by the High Court on the basis of inconsistency with federal law.
As of 2017, there have been 22 unsuccessful attempts in the Federal Parliament to legalise or recognise same-sex marriage (SSM) under federal law.
The 2016 failed plebiscite
The current Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, supports same-sex marriage. The Turnbull Government went to the 2016 federal election with a policy to put the issue of same-sex marriage to a plebiscite, and was narrowly re-elected. However, the legislation to establish the plebiscite was rejected by the Australian Senate in November 2016.
The 2017 postal survey
The voluntary Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey will be held between 12 September and 7 November 2017 to ascertain respondents' views on whether same-sex marriage should be introduced to Australian law. The final tally of votes from the postal plebiscite poll is expected to be completed by November 15, 2017.
If the plebiscite is in favour of SSM, the government has said that a bill legalising SSM will be introduced in the House in late November or early December, where it is expected to pass. (Parliamentarians are not bound by the results of the poll, but many have promised to respect the final outcome.) If the final tally is opposed, Turnbull has said no bill will proceed to a parliamentary vote.
Political implications
SSM has been a contentious issue for the Coalition government under the leadership of Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull.
Analysts have suggested that both the plebiscite and the postal survey are stalling measures that have been proposed to forestall the Coalition having to table SSM legislation in the Parliament.
The issue is difficult for the Coalition as there is a significant range of opinion within the Liberal and National Parties on the question. Arriving at an agreed position on framing a new amendment to the Marriage Act and then on how to vote on any such amendment would reveal divisions in the Coalition and its electoral support base.