Same-sex marriage 2010 upon promulgation by the Argentine President. Argentina thus became the first country in Latin America, the second in the Americas, and the tenth in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. Australia became the second nation in Oceania to legalise same-sex marriage when the Australian Parliament passed a bill on 7 December 2017. The bill received royal assent on 8 December, and took effect on 9 December 2017. The law removed the ban on same-sex marriage which previously existed and followed a voluntary postal survey held from 12 September to 7 November 2017, which returned a 61.6% "Yes" vote for
Same-sex marriage in Australia 2003", making it the first Australian state or territory to do so. In August 2012, a bill was introduced into the Tasmanian Parliament to legalise same-sex marriage. The bill passed the lower house, but was later rejected by the upper house on 28 September 2012. In October 2013, the bill was re-introduced into the upper house and was defeated once more. Registered partnership recognition in state governments Same-sex and opposite-sex "de facto" couples exist in all states and territories, however the inability of "de facto" couples to have conclusive evidence of their relationships in Western Australia and the Northern Territory