【New Folder (2014)】

One of the biggest current debates in Australia — around marriage equality — caused a government website to crash on New Folder (2014)Thursday.

The website for Australia's High Court was out of operation just minutes before the court handed down a decision over the legality of the federal government's same-sex marriage postal vote. And it's currently still out of action:

The outage came just moments before the High Court found that the government's postal vote is lawful, a green light which will enable the Australian Bureau of Statistics to send out a non-compulsory survey to enrolled Australians, asking the question: “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?”

It comes after two days of hearings at the High Court in Melbourne, unpacking whether the Australian government could lawfully use $122 million to implement a postal plebiscite on the matter of same-sex marriage.

The ruling has been one of the most anticipated decisions in Australia this week, so the crash comes as a minimal surprise. Members of the public, government and media alike awaited the decision on Thursday, with those outside the courtroom constantly checking the website for a result.

Australians will receive their postal survey after Sept. 12 and will have until Nov. 7 to mail it back to the ABS. Then, the survey results will be announced on Nov. 15, after which the issue will be voted upon in federal parliament.

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The next few months will see furious campaigning from both sides. Several capital city councils, including the City of Sydney and City of Melbourne, have publicly engaged in marketing campaigns for the 'Yes' vote.

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The High Court's website was back up at 3.30pm on Thursday.

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