Government And Political Communication . Issue: Marriage

For Australian law to be effective it must be dynamic so it can reflect changing societal views, which law reform can help attain. A significant area of recent social change is the acceptance of same-sex relationships in Australian society. To mirror this, current law reforms have been somewhat effective in achieving just outcomes regarding the recognition of same-sex relationships in Commonwealth law. The combination of official recognition of same-sex relationships to an extent, attempts at removing discrimination in legislation, and the delay of justice denotes this. Considering the achievement of justice and the protection of individual’s rights, it is evident that law reform has significantly improved recognition of same-sex relationships, but there are more essential responses that need to be enacted.

Communication is a process by which two or more people exchange ideas, facts, feelings, or impressions in ways that gains common understanding of messages. Communication can be used to bring out changes in attitudes and used to motivate people and establish and maintain relationships, it is also vital for seeking and providing information.

It can be argued that marriage equality is the paramount issue for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) in Australia, and worldwide. The push for marriage equality has been at the forefront of debate for many years, especially in Australia, where same-sex couples are still unable to marry under Australian law. Despite the recognition of same-sex matrimony in

Among innumerable reasons why marriage equality should be legalized in Australia, a prominent one is that restricting the option to marry any citizen is discriminatory and unconstitutional. This sort of treatment not only deprives every-day people of their dignity, creating a second class of citizens, but also suggests that LGBTI+ people are somehow unworthy of participation in one of the fundamental institutions of our society. A lack of opportunity to formalize same-sex relations implies that these relationships aren 't of equal standard, exacerbating unjust prejudice and intolerance. This impression is promoted through the lack of financial, medical and social rights associated with marriage to individuals in a civil union, the supposed 'adequate equivalent ' for marriage. Although the legalisation of marriage equality would have no impact on non-LGBTI+ communities,

Political communication is a message designed for a mass audience with the objective of making an audience sympathetic to your position. Most political communication is done through mass media, which presents a unique challenge: making extremely impersonal communication through a screen seem personal. Successful, effective political communication utilizes classic rhetorical techniques in order to identify with the audience at hand and present a position.

Only recently, the Australian Government introduced reforms to de-facto relationships. This meant that same-sex couples are entitled to the same benefits and subject to the same obligations as opposite-sex couples (Property Relationships Act 1984 NSW). The legislation of Same-Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws- General Law Reform) Act 2008 removed discriminatory treatment of same-sex couples. These acts included laws about tax, superannuation, Medicare, workers compensations, employment entitlements and family law. Homosexuals are discriminated against in terms of marriage, donating blood and are also victims to abuse due to their status. A study conducted by the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby revealed that 84% of participants aged between 14 and 21 had been treated unfairly because of their sexuality and almost half had suffered verbal or physical abuse. With these inequalities present, it is difficult to achieve equality and fairness around this group. Although Australia proposes the ideal of egalitarianism, it is hard to justify whether it is present or not.

Another type of family in which the Australian legal system has been effective in is dealing with Same Sex Relationships. However there has been a slight degree of ineffectiveness in this issue with same sex relationships finding it extremely difficult in the past in order to obtain the same rights as married couples or even De Facto couples, thus one can interpret that in the case of Same Sex Relationship Justice is delayed thus the justice is denied. Same Sex Couples it seems are unable to ever achieve the rights and be recognised through marriage as the Marriage Act 1961 specifically states that marriage is between a man and a woman and in order for Same Sex couples to be able to marry a new law must be passed as well as that section of the marriage act be amended. However all states and territories in Australia recognise Same Sex

The law regulating same-sex marriages continues to change, in order to better reflect the community 's opinions and expectations. Within the last decade, Australia has seen substantial changes in the legal recognition of same-sex relationships. This increase in legal recognition is primarily aimed at removal of institutionalized discrimination, as well as providing adequate legal protection of same-sex couples has arisen due to the wide spread changes of opinions about same-sex relationships within society.

Australia, as a secular nation, declares freedom for all citizens in its constitution. However, it appears for influence of Christianity is still prevalent in its political agenda. This Christian influence comes from Australia’s settlement in 1788. The underlying Christian influence affects the political agenda in many ways: 2 of which are marriage equality, and inequality for same-sex couples in adoption and surrogacy laws.

Below is a legislative history of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013 The act ensured that all people regardless of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity have the the opportunity to marry if they so choose.

Communication, the act or process of using words, sounds signs or behaviors to express or exchange information or to express your ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc., to someone else. (Merriam Webster dictionary). There are four forms of communication; verbal, non-verbal, written and visual.

In general, the political team will use different forms of mass communication such as; radio, television, and satellite TV are the most logical choice because it can reach millions of people and it can affect how they view their candidate opponents. However, most people don’t trust politicians believing they would say anything to get elected and according to Neher & Sandin (2007), “To many people, political communication ethics sounds like oxymoron” (p. 227). Furthermore, in the public view, politician’s ranks near the bottom of professionals when it comes to ethics and trustworthiness in which this led to many campaigns advisor to be

The political aspects of whether same-sex couples should be allowed to federal and government recognized marriages are a very complex issue. There are basically two sides to the political argument of whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. On one side are the liberals who feel that marriage is a civil right that should be denied based on the basis of a person's sexual orientation. On the other side you have conservatives who feel that marriage is an institution in which should only constitute one man and one woman. In this report we are going to examine how the issue of same-sex marriages are affecting our current political environment, how politics is affecting the movement for

Mass communication is the only way to inform a population of what is happening outside of the recipients own country. With our technological advances, most politicians engage the mass media for self-promotion purposes. Donald Trump used Twitter as his medium in the mass media world. People found his reckless and straightforward posts to be entertaining and comedic, giving him a larger edge in the 2016

Public information is the dissemination of materials and/or knowledge for one to become versed on the subject or to evoke advances in policy outcomes (Weiss & Tschirhart, 1994; Weiss, 2002, p. 218; Campbell, 2016). This is accomplished by informing a target audience about a policy concern or behavior pattern to influence thoughts, knowledge, and beliefs (Weiss & Tschirhart, 1994; Campbell, 2016). Public information covers a wide spectrum from counseling, research evaluations and dissemination of research findings, to public campaigns, public hearings, trainings, press releases, and most recently social media to provide the public with pertinent information, as rationality is often bounded by prior experience and knowledge (which usually is not inclusive of all the necessary information) (Weiss, 2002; Campbell, 2016).