Chief justice Susan Kiefel has announced that the High Court will hand down its decision on the voluntary same-sex marriage postal survey tomorrow at 2.15pm.

Full reasons will be published later.

Our organisations support the introduction of marriage equality laws and consider that legislation that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is fundamentally wrong, Mr Moses, Ms Wright and Professor Frankum said.

The President of the Law Society of NSW, Pauline Wright, said denying couples of the same sex the choice to enter a civil marriage contravened the principle of equality before the law.

The Law Society of NSW is committed to ensuring that all Australians are equal before the law in rights and dignity, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,” Ms Wright said.

Failing to recognise same-sex marriage can have a negative impact on the mental health and wellbeing of LGBTI people and their families, including those in the legal profession.

It may also amount to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation which is contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Australia is a signatory.”

NSW Bar Association President Arthur Moses SC said it was an extraordinary step for the medical and legal profession to speak with one voice on an issue.

This is an important issue. The rule of law requires that all Australians are treated equally,” Mr Moses said.

Discrimination in the Marriage Act on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is contrary to the rule of law.”

Australian Medical Association (NSW) Professor Brad Frankum said he was very proud of the AMA position statement in favour of marriage equality.

I’m very happy to be joining the Law Society of NSW and NSW Bar Association to campaign jointly on this issue,” Professor Frankum said.

We know that marriage laws, as they exist now, have adverse health consequences for gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, and intersex people.

Doctors have a duty to both treat and prevent illness and for me that also means rejecting discrimination in all its forms.”

Answer: When the federal government fails for the second time to get its Bill for same-sex marriage passed through the Senate.

If you’ve been paying attention to the same-sex marriage issue, you will know the Senate rejected yesterday, Wednesday, 9 August 2017, the federal government’s second attempt to pass legislation for a “compulsory attendance plebiscite” to take place this November.

If you’ve forgotten what a plebiscite is, you can take a look at our article on everything you need to know about the same-sex marriage plebiscite.

The fall-back plan now being pursued by the government is to pursue a postal vote option on 15 November this year.

According to the Malcolm Turnbull:

all Australians will have their say – they will get the opportunity to express their opinion on the issue of whether the law should be changed to enable same-sex couples to marry”. 

If the result of this postal ‘plebiscite’ vote is positive, the government says it would seek, during the last sitting fortnight of the Parliament in 2017, to pass a Private Member’s Bill amending the Marriage Act 1961 to recognise same-sex marriage.

If the result of the postal vote is negative, the Prime Minister has said:

their vote will be respected. We’ve been very clear about this, we will facilitate a Private Members Bill to change the law with respect to same-sex marriage so that same-sex couples can be married if there’s a ‘yes’ vote. And if it is a ‘no’ vote, we won’t”.

However, the outcome of the postal survey is not binding on Parliamentarians.

Of course, if it is a ‘no’ postal vote outcome, it is a safe bet that the Opposition will, with the necessary support of a number of Coalition Members ‘crossing the floor’, try to get a Private Member’s Bill through the Parliament.

Australians have 14 days to register to vote in the same-sex marriage postal plebiscite. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the last day to register to vote is 24 August 2017.

Further updates coming.

More articles:

• Everything you need to know about the same-sex marriage plebiscite
• Same-sex unions formally recognised in ACT: But is it enough?
• Taiwan first Asian country to rule in favour of same-sex marriage