Same-sex couples will be able to use British laws to marry in Australian cities from June, after the Abbott Government told Britain it had no objection.
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The move has been hailed by marriage equality advocates as a sign of how far the nation has come on the issue since 2010, when then Attorney-General Robert McClelland prevented Portugal from solemnising same-sex marriages in its diplomatic posts in Australia after the nation legalised same-sex marriage.
The decision clears the way to marry for hundreds of Australian same-sex couples in which one partner has British citizenship.
St Kilda East woman Claire Eden, 26, who has Australian as well as British citizenship through her father, was ecstatic at the news. Ms Eden is already well advanced in planning the celebration in which she will marry her partner of two years, Steph McIlroy, in November.
''With two brides, it has to be big,'' she said.
''For us, calling each other wife and being recognised as a married couple is quite significant. I mean, having someone as your domestic partner doesn't quite have the same ring to it as saying this person is your wife,'' Ms Eden said.
''We're a unit, and we want to be viewed in that way, wherever we are in the world,'' she said.
Same-sex marriage becomes legal in England and Wales on Saturday. A spokeswoman for the British High Commission in Canberra said it expected to be able to offer same-sex marriages in overseas posts from June. The High Commission expects to be able to publish details of where these services will be available in May.
A spokesman for Attorney-General George Brandis confirmed the Australian government had ''informed the British High Commission that it has no objections to officers from the British High Commission solemnising same-sex marriages on consular grounds ... if at least one person of the marrying couple is a British national.''
But the spokesman said these marriages would not be recognised as marriages in Australia.
Australian Marriage Equality national director Rodney Croome congratulated the government on its stance.
''This shows that the federal government understands the world is changing and that it acknowledges the aspiration of same-sex couples to wed,'' Mr Croome said.
''Now that the federal government has said 'yes' to same-sex marriages in UK consulates I look forward to it allowing a free vote so Australian same-sex couples can marry in Australia under Australian law.''
