The Crosby Textor poll is expected to bring a renewed push from marriage equality advocates, who will begin targeting Coalition MPs in earnest after growing public support for same-sex marriage and Sunday's widely publicised interview with Ian Thorpe, in which Australia's greatest Olympian confirmed he was gay. Liberal Party polling found that 72 per cent want same-sex marriage legalised, while 77 per cent think Coalition MPs should be granted a conscience vote on the matter. Credit:Andrew Sheargold The survey by the Liberal Party's national pollster finds support for marriage equality is increasing among Australians, up from 65 per cent in a Nielsen poll last August. It shows opposition to same-sex marriage has collapsed, with just one in five Australians or 21 per cent opposed, marking Parliament as increasingly out of step with the views of the majority of Australians. According to the poll, support for same-sex marriage is now higher in Australia than it was in any other country, including New Zealand and Great Britain, when overseas parliaments have passed marriage equality laws.

The poll found that a majority of voters across a range of demographics and in almost every age group backed marriage reform. A majority of respondents in each Australian state said they wanted to see marriage equality, as did a majority of Australians who identified with major religions, including Catholic, Anglican and non-Christian religions. An overwhelming 85 per cent of respondents with children were pro-marriage equality. The lowest results came from Australians aged over 65, at 48 per cent, and men over 55, at 42 per cent, but according to Crosby Textor more people in those groups were in favour of marriage equality than were opposed, with a significant proportion saying they were undecided. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said on Monday that the time had come for the Parliament to act.

She said the first thing MPs could do was to support a bill to allow legal recognition in Australia of same-sex marriages entered into by Australian couples overseas. The matter is the subject of a Senate inquiry, which is due to report in September. Fairfax Media revealed last week that Australian same-sex couples wanting to marry in British consulates in Australia are facing extraordinary legal hurdles because of a lack legal recognition for overseas same-sex marriages and the Parliament's failure to move on marriage reform. ''The new poll released today shows that overwhelmingly the majority of Australians want to see equality before the law,'' Senator Hanson-Young said. Labor frontbencher Penny Wong, who is openly gay, believes Australia is edging towards allowing gay marriage.

Senator Wong says Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek has also flagged introducing a private member's bill on gay marriage, however, any bill’s success was contingent on Mr Abbott allowing a conscience vote for coalition MPs. ''We don't want this to fail again - we want a debate which has the capacity of a bill passing, and marriage equality being achieved,'' Senator Wong told ABC radio on Monday. Australian Marriage Equality national director Rodney Croome said: "With Australians across all key demographics supporting marriage equality in record numbers, it's fair to say the public has made up its mind, the community debate has been won, and it's time for politicians to act." After the federal government won a High Court Challenge to same-sex marriage laws in the ACT last year, marriage equality advocates drew up a hit list of 50 MPs in the federal Parliament they thought could be persuaded to support marriage equality, including senior ministers Julie Bishop, Joe Hockey and Christopher Pyne. Loading

Mr Abbott has said any amendment to the Marriage Act will be a matter for the Coalition party room. Follow us on Twitter