More than 3,000 same-sex couples married in Australia between December and 30 June, new statistics show.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said in a data release on Tuesday that 3,149 same-sex weddings took place between 9 December, when amendments to the Marriage Act came into effect, and the end of the 2017-18 financial year.

The state with the greatest share of weddings was New South Wales (34.6%), followed by Victoria (26.2%) and Queensland (18.9%). Of the 67 weddings in Tasmania, 67% were between women.

“The most popular time for same-sex couples to get married was March, accounting for 22.7% (714) of marriages over the six-month period,” said James Eynstone-Hinkins, from the ABS’s health and vitals statistics section.

Of those 3,000 weddings, 56.3% were between women, while the median age for women to marry was 39, compared with 48.5 for men. In 2017, the median age across heterosexual marriages was 32 for men and 30 for women.

The law change was greeted with particular enthusiasm among older couples, the data suggests. There were 1,057 people above the age of 60 who registered a same-sex marriage, including 86 men and 33 women older than 75.

The ABS said 99% of same-sex marriages had been performed by civil celebrants.

Rodney Croome, a veteran campaigner and Just Equal spokesman, said the figures were a reminder that “the marriage equality campaign was right when it said the sky would not fall in”.

“The relatively high median age of marrying same-sex partners suggests the couples who are marrying have been together a long time and are now finally able to have their love and commitment legally recognised,” he said.

“As Australia debates transgender equality, discrimination in religious schools and other LGBTI issues, we must keep in mind that those who catastrophised LGBTI equality during the marriage debate were jumping at shadows, and they continue to jump at shadows today.”

In December, the parliament passed a bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry following a national postal survey in which 61.6% voted in favour of the change.

Now, when filing a notice of intended marriage form, parties can decide between three options for “sex”: “male”, “female” and “X” (any person who does not choose to identify as either male or female).

Most couples were required to wait a month unless they had sought a special exemption, meaning 9 January was the first day most couples could marry.

Census data from 2016 showed there were 46,800 same-sex couples living together in Australia, a figure which accounts for 0.9% of all couples.

Statistics released on Tuesday showed that overall there had been 112,954 marriages registered in 2017, a 4.7% decrease compared with the previous year. There were 49,032 divorces granted in the same period, an increase of 5%.

The median duration from marriage to divorce was 12 years. The highest divorce rate was in Queensland.