Registry of births, deaths, and marriages in Sydney puts on extra staff to help same-sex couples lodge their notice

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

It has been four years since Daniel proposed to Daniel on a lantern-lit cliffside in Bali.



The pair had been inseparable since they met three years earlier, when they found each other on a night out and fell instantly in love.

Their engagement came at a time when same-sex marriage was locked in political intransigence.

But on Saturday, Daniel Barnett, 39, and Daniel Gray-Barnett, 36, helped record another small step in Australia’s political history.

They became the first same-sex couple to register their intent to marry in Sydney.

They were at NSW’s registry of births, deaths, and marriages office in Sydney’s centre, bright and early. They plan to marry on 30 January, but went to the registry to take full advantage of its legal protections and formalise their union.

“We wanted to have a party and ceremony with all our family and friends and show to everyone we felt like we were married,” Gray-Barnett said.

The office had put on a couple of extra staff in preparation for a possible rush of registrations on Saturday, the first day the law was active.

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There was a line out the door, as predicted. But it wasn’t the customers staff were expecting.

“They were journalists,” NSW registrar Amanda Ianna said, laughing.

“But we have had a few people through today, and we’ve had marriages all day today as well.”

By about 2pm, the office had registered five same-sex couples for marriage.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Daniel Gray-Barnett (R) and Daniel Barnett Photograph: Ben Rushton/EPA

Others had used the website to register, although precise figures on the number of same-sex couples weren’t available.

The mood among staff was upbeat.

“It was really happy this morning when people were in here, but this place is a really happy place on the weekend generally anyhow, because we’re performing marriages,” Ianna said.

One of the other couples at the registry was Valeria Ballantyne, 48, who joined her partner Clare Jacobs, 31.

“Being a child of the 80s there was so much more that we had to fight for,” Ballantyne said.

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“Gay acceptance. Let’s not get bashed. I never thought that we’d reach this level of acceptance so quickly.”

“It’s overwhelming.”



The couple held a commitment ceremony in Byron Bay last year, and felt it important to quickly have their marriage legalised.

“We already consider ourselves married anyway,” Jacobs said.



The registry is usually only open on Saturdays to conduct civil wedding ceremonies, however an exception has been made for same-sex couples who want to register their intent to marry this weekend.



New intended marriage forms include the heading Party 1 and Party 2 instead of Bridegroom and Bride, with a description of party section offering three options: groom, bride and partner.



As well, there are three boxes for gender: male, female and x - which is described as “indeterminate, intersex or unspecified”.



Ianna said it was hard to predict whether the same-sex marriage laws would cause a large increase in workload for the registry.

“We really don’t know. But we’re prepared, we’re promoting marriage overall anyhow,” Ianna said.

“We’re getting different places to marry people all the time. We’ve got a new venue just around the corner in beautiful cellar ... so we’re hoping to increase our marriage performing.”



Gay couples who tied the knot overseas will now have their unions officially recognised.



A review into religious freedom will report in March, which could lead to further law changes.