Australia is voting on whether or not to allow same-sex couples to get married.

The thought of two people of the same gender getting hitched is causing quite a split in the country at the moment.

Up to 15 million people will get the vote but the result won’t be known until mid-November and it’s non-binding.

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However, for one voter there was a bit of light relief when they got their postal vote.


Under the barcode there’s a randomly selected series of letters and numbers.

As you can see from the code above, there were amusing consequences with the letters ‘BUMSEX’ appearing among the characters.



Jonathan Palmer, deputy statistician for the Australian Bureau of Statistics apologised saying: ‘The ABS acknowledges that in issuing 16 million barcodes it did not check and remove words and phrases that may be offensive.

Sealed envelopes from the Marriage Law Postal Survey are seen being posted in Adelaide, Tuesday, September 19, 2017. (AAP Image/Morgan Sette)

‘The codes were issued using an algorithm generating more than two quintillion combinations of letters and numbers in order to generate highly secure barcodes.’

Naturally it’s caused great amusement with Peter Miller writing ‘Randomness is sometimes pretty awesome’.

Another pointed out that it would have been ‘far more Australian had it been “BUMSEXM8”.’

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The poll has attracted heated debate from the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns, with some prominent clergy speaking out against such unions, warning that legalising them could infringe on religious freedom.

Fairfax Media reported on Friday that one couple were due to be married in the rural town of Ballarat in Victoria, but after the bride-to-be posted support for changing marriage laws on Facebook she was told the church minister would no longer officiate.

‘You must surely appreciate that your commitment to same-sex marriage opposes the teaching of Christ Jesus and the scriptural position practised by the Presbyterian Church of Australia and by me,’ the minister wrote in a letter to the bride provided to Fairfax.

‘This conflict of views has practical consequences in relation to your upcoming wedding. By continuing to officiate it would appear… that I support your views on same-sex marriage or that I am uncaring about this matter.’

The church, Ebenezer St John’s, had no immediate comment Friday, but Turnbull defended the minister’s decision, saying ‘churches are free to marry whoever they like’.

‘Churches are entitled to marry or not marry whom they please. That is part of religious freedom. My own church, the Catholic Church, will not marry someone who has married before,’ he told reporters in Canberra.

Turnbull, a moderate who supports same-sex marriage, is opposed by some members of his conservative ruling Liberal-National coalition on the issue and the postal vote is seen as a compromise.

‘No’ campaigners say changing the laws could impact the church, but both Turnbull and Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten – who also supports gay marriage – have said religious freedom would be protected under any reforms.

Parliament on Wednesday passed election-style safeguards restricting campaign material that might be misleading and deceptive during the ballot period, amid fears the vote could unleash a barrage of homophobia.