The extraordinary efforts behind the scenes of Australia's first same-sex marriage, allowing a Queensland woman to wed her partner before she died from cancer, have been revealed.

Jill Kindt and Jo Grant had been together for eight years but only legally married for 48 days, after they tied the knot in their garden on December 15.

It was a week after same-sex marriage became legal in Australia, and it has now been revealed to be the country's first.

It was allowed to proceed without the 30-day waiting period because Ms Grant was terminally ill with a rare cancer.

She died on January 30, 2018, just over six weeks from her wedding.

The behind-the-scenes details, and the people who helped make their wedding possible, were mentioned in Queensland Parliament.

Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said Ms Kindt and Ms Grant were approved, married, and registered all in one day, after the Registrar ruled exceptional circumstances.

Ms Grant (right) died on January 30, 2018. ( Supplied: Marion Jonkers )

Staff from Births, Death and Marriages also played an important role — with one staff member even driving from Brisbane to a roadside service station on the way to the Sunshine Coast to meet the celebrant and deliver the paperwork necessary for the marriage to take place.

"I know there are other couples that were married that weekend, and for different reasons. They are among the first … and the reason we did is a tremendously sad one, and I'd trade everything for not having to stand here and talk about this story," Ms Kindt said.

In 2013, Ms Kindt and Ms Grant held a commitment ceremony, or a "promise day" as they called it, and considered themselves to be each others' spouses ever since.

Their 2017 wedding made their marriage legal.

"It was great, it was really good. It was legal … Jo very much wanted it to happen, as I did," Ms Kindt said.

"It's very hard to describe. We considered ourselves married, but in a legal sense we weren't."

Ms Kindt said she and her wife were humbled by those behind the scenes who moved heaven and earth to make sure they had as much time possible together legally married.

"But we were overwhelmed by the fact the people who did not know us made something that we wanted happen and gave us a whole heap of joy. That's the story," Ms Kindt said.

"But I'm glad the story's been told for Jo, and I loved hearing her name being said in Parliament today.

"Jo and I got to be legally married for 48 days. I'll take that."

Ms D'Ath called it an "inspiring story".

"It's a story of hope that reframes Queensland as a modern, trailblazing state which recognises equal rights and the most fundamental principle — that love is love," Ms D'Ath said.

Australia's first same-sex weddings occurred from January 9 but some couples, such as Ms Kindt and Ms Grant, were eligible for exemptions allowing them to wed earlier.

Lauren Price and Amy Laker, from Sydney, also exchanged vows on December 16 after they too obtained a waiver exempting them from the one-month waiting period because their families were travelling from Wales to be there.

Ms Grant and Ms Kindt were one of 159 same sex couples who have been married in Queensland since the marriage equality laws were passed.