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2013-2014
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
THE SENATE
Recognition of Foreign Marriages Bill 2014
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
Recognition of Foreign Marriages Bill 2014
General outline
The Recognition of Foreign Marriages Bill 2014 amends the Marriage Act 1961 to ensure
that marriages that are validly entered into in foreign countries can be recognised under the
laws of Australia.
Notes on clauses
Clause 1 - Short title
This clause provides for the Act, when enacted, to be cited as the Recognition of Foreign
Marriages Bill 2014.
Clause 2 - Commencement
This clause provides for the commencement of the Act on the day after it receives the Royal
Assent.
Clause 3 - Object
This clause states that the object of this Bill is to recognise under Australian laws same-sex
marriages solemnised in a foreign country.
Clause 4 - Schedule
This clause provides that the Marriage Act 1961 is amended as set out in Schedule 1 of the
Bill.
Schedule 1--Same-sex marriages solemnised in a foreign country
Item 1 Section 88EA
This item repeals section 88EA that prohibits the recognition of marriage between same sex
couples solemnised in a foreign country.
In the place of the repealed section it substitutes a new section which explicitly establishes
that the marriages solemnised in a foreign country that are to be legally recognised as a
marriage in Australia include unions between a man and another man, and a woman and
another woman.
This item also substitutes a subsection which establishes that parties to a marriage that is a
same-sex marriage solemnised in a foreign country will have the same rights and obligations
under Commonwealth law as a marriage solemnised in Australia between a man and a
woman.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Recognition of Foreign Marriages Bill 2014
This Bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international
instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview
The Recognition of Foreign Marriages Bill 2014 amends the Marriage Act 1961 to ensure that
marriages that are validly entered into in foreign countries can be recognised under the laws of
Australia.
Human rights implications
This Bill does not negatively engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms. This Bill positively
engages with the following applicable rights or freedoms:
ICCPR Article 23
This Bill enhances the right of men and women of marriageable age to marry by extending the right of
legal recognition of a marriage entered into in a foreign country to all people regardless of whether
they have married a same-sex or a different-sex partner.
ICCPR Article 26
This Bill enhances the right of gay and lesbian Australians to equal protection of the law. Currently
the law recognises international marriages of different-sex couples, but prohibits legal recognition of
same-sex international marriages. This Bill removes aspects of Australian marriage law that are
discriminatory, and in doing so, enhances equal and effective protection against discrimination on any
ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social
origin, property, birth or other status.
ICECSR Article 12
This Bill enhances the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of
physical and mental health. It is the clear advice of Australia's top psychological experts that, for
same-sex couples who do wish to marry in Australia or in a foreign country, the continued
discrimination against them in existing marriage laws is a source of great mental anguish and
sometimes mental ill-health.
By removing the discrimination from Australia's laws, this Bill reduces in part the overall
discrimination and alienation suffered by gay and lesbian people which may give rise, in some people
particularly young people, to an improvement in physical and mental health.
Conclusion
This Bill is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any negative human rights issues
Senator Hanson-Young