Number of Australian gay partnerships exceeds expectations
More Australian gay couples are registering their partnerships than anticipated by the government.
The Civil Partnerships Act 2008 was passed by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Legislative Assembly in May.
The Act allowed gay couples to legally register their partnerships for the first time.
Since May, there have been 23 registrations and two commitment ceremonies.
ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell said that these figures ‘exceeded all expectations’, reports National Nine News.
Mr. Corbell said that the government had only expected around 15 registrations per year.
‘With spring and Floriade just around the corner, we may well see many more commitment ceremonies ad partnerships registered before the end of this year,’ he said.
The first civil ceremony marking the registration of a same sex relationship took place in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in June.
Civil union schemes are only open to residents of the particular state or territory which provides them and are not recognised by other Australian states or territories.
Some countries, however, such as the United Kingdom do recognise Australian civil unions.
