Couples living together in the same household as partners, married or not can have these benefits issued by legislation if we so decide.
Equal treatment:
The changed laws  mean some same-sex couples and their families are now entitled to receive benefits previously not accessible.
Entitlements may include:
partner concession card benefits
bereavement benefits if a partner dies
exemption of the family home from the assets test when one partner enters nursing home care and the other partner continues to reside there
recognition as independent for Youth Allowance if in a same-sex relationship for over 12 months
lesbian relationships recognised as a qualifying relationship for Widow Allowance
War Widow or widowers pension
access to the Child Support Scheme
access to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Medicare safety nets as a family
allowing private sector superannuation trustees to make same-sex couples and their children eligible for reversionary benefits
enabling reversionary benefits from Commonwealth (defined benefit) superannuation schemes to be conferred on same-sex partners and the children of same-sex relationships
tax concessions.
Some same-sex couples and their families may have their benefits reduced to the same entitlements received by opposite-sex couples and their families in the same circumstances.

We do not need to call LGBTQQD relationships marriage, we can call it Civil Contract. But that is not what the lobbyists want they want to be able to walk into any Church and demand to use their premises as a Wedding venue, and if refused employ barristers to charge the Church with discrimination.

However the Church prays over the couple that they will have godly children, and the congregation promises to support them in the raising of their family.

I don't know why people have to say they have 'nothing personal against queers' - it sounds like a part applogy for your their opinions and values.

That’s some really poor reasoning there, Josephus.

<<SSM agenda has nothing to do with human equality, otherwise 1,193,400 in 2009 of de'facto couples would be pushing for equality and they are not.>>

Most of those de facto couples already have equality because they have the option of getting married. That many of them forgo that option is irrelevant.

<<The Equality agenda is to ultimately destroy the natural family of mother father and children as dreamed up by those wishing to destroy the moral mores of Christianity.>>

What is your evidence for this?

<<If you watched Insight last night you would have seen young people emotionally damaged by the destruction of their families.>>

I’m sure they are. So what?

<<Children need stable loving parents and families to best survive emotionally.>>

Yet you want to deny some families a means of promoting stability based on the sex of the parents.

You can waffle on all you like about the legal rights of gay couples, the fact of the matter is that they are still not the same, not by a long shot. And even if they were, neither you, nor anyone else here, has provided a good reason as to why they’re relationships cannot be a marriage.

The principle that Church and State should be separate is accepted by the majority of Australians. However organized religion continues its free ride on the back of the secular society. Churches pay no tax, but at the same time pocket millions in income. Government money is paid to support Church run religious education, I would label it brain washing of children's minds rather than education.
Churches, particularly the Catholic Church hierarchy, for decades allowed paedophile clergy to operate with impunity within their organization. As there is no satisfactory evidence that the religious have reformed their disgusting practices, it may still be the case. In one parish in Sydney recently the old parish priest was moved for the reason the church gives as "ill health", others think differently.
The same churches, their hierarchy, and their devotees want to dictate to others on the morality of what consenting adults do. Forgive me if I seem to be somewhat sceptical about these bigoted religious hypocrites, but I am.

Mark Latham's video editorial today, a bunch of fancy-dressed freaks with Richard di Natale grinning in their midst. Too many stupid signs and t-shirt slogans to mention, but the one that took the cake was on the shirt of a who-knows-what sex creature which read 'Gender is over'.

One expects this sort of rubbish from young morons, but di Natale! It is hard to reconcile the conservative looking man on the 7.30 Report last night, rightly calling for an audit of dual citizens in Parliament, with the bloke looking happy to be among grubs, lunatics and perverts.

Incidentally, I switched off Leigh Sales when she announced that she was about to have on yet another quack to whine about the treatment of illegal boat arrivals. The ABC is so predictable and disloyal to Australia.

Paul,

You can stop worrying about the churches. The only so-called Christian churches (pseudo Christians) who get a look in these days: who have sold out and stand for 'self' not souls, are more of your pursuasion these days. These are the churches that are no longer 'safe places' for Christians - Uniting Church, the Anglicans and, even, Catholic.

Conservative Christians, once comfortably established in the Coalition, are now politically homeless. You have nothing to worry about. You have won. Be happy. Enjoy.