What could allowing same sex marriage mean to the Australian Economy?
A conservative estimate put forward by M.V. Lee Badgett, a distinguished scholar from the Williams Centre for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy at UCLA suggested that if marriage equality was legalised in Australia we could expect 17,820 couples to wed within the first three years.
The boost the Australian economy was estimated at $161 million dollars Plus there would be additional revenue from associated tourism from
overseas guests travelling to Australia to attend weddings.
It was also noted that if one state was ahead of the others in bringing in same sex marriage, they would likely get the majority of the economic benefits. The example of Tasmania leading the way predicted their economy would gain $96 million dollars.
Research from Newcastle University has shown that in 2012 there 121,752 marriages registered in Australia. Business and Economic advisors IBISWorld believe the wedding industry generates around 4.3 billion dollars.
The last census in 2011 revealed there were around 33,700 same sex couples living in Australia, although this number is considered to be conservative as some people may not wish to declare their sexuality on the census. Additionally the census does not take into account couples who do not live together.
If half of the same sex couples in Australia decided to have a wedding, with the average wedding costing around $36,700, it would add around $600 million to the marriage industry. The impact would be 14% industry growth, in an industry that is expected to achieve 1.4% growth without same sex marriage.
The economic benefits could go further though with people travelling to Australia to wed, and the associated tourism from overseas weddings and visiting guests.
Simone Gordon
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