Majority of Australians support same sex marriage, euthanasia: survey

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Majority of Australians support same sex marriage, euthanasia: survey

(Xinhua) 16:49, August 29, 2013

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MELBOURNE, Aug 29 -- More than 50 percent of Australians showed positive attitude toward same sex marriage, a local survey said on Thursday.

According to the data from Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)'s Vote Compass, an online policy survey tool, 52 percent of respondents among about 422,403 voters who gave responses supported that marriage should not only be between a man and a woman.

About 36 percent of respondents opposed the gay marriage policy, while 12 percent of voters remained "neutral. "

The survey tool was designed to promote electoral literacy and stimulate public engagement in the policy aspect of election campaigns.

Women and single voters are more inclined to support same sex marriage than men and people who are married, the ABC News reported.

The result also demonstrated that the different attitude depends on the ideological lines which voters stand on.

The survey asked for views on the statement: Marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Among the group who identify themselves as right-leaning politically, 72 percent of voters agreed with the proposition, while 78 percent of respondents who recognized themselves as in the political left-leaning group showed disagreement.

Meanwhile, in terms of the opinions about gay marriage policy from different parties, the data are also ideologically clear. Around 64 percent of the Labor Party voters agreed with this policy, while only 32 percent of the Coalition voters supported it.

Fifty-four percent of the Coalition respondents voted against the policy, compared to 24 percent from the Labor Party.

And the overwhelmingly supportive views came from Australia's Green Party voters, who accounted for approximately 85 percent of agreement on gay marriage, said the report.

Besides the same sex marriage policy, this report also explored how people responded to questions on euthanasia and abortion.

According to other Vote Compass figures revealed Thursday, 75 percent of respondents backed legalizing voluntary euthanasia for the terminally ill, which means terminally ill patients should be able to legally end their own lives with medical assistance, no matter what side of politics voters being on.

And an increasing number of Australians wanted abortion services to remain at least as accessible as they currently are in Australia, which made the supportive rate up from 37 percent to 46 percent, according to the data.

The ABC launched Vote Compass online survey tool immediately after Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced this year's federal election date.

The data for the survey has been weighted by gender, age, education, enrollment as a student, religion, marital status, industry and state, using the latest population estimates to avoid bias and to be a true representation of opinion at the time of the field.

The online survey has received approximately 971,883 responses so far.