BREAKING: It’s a Yes for same-sex marriage in Australia

The Gay Flag — The White House announced on Tuesday that it plans to work on new directives regarding the use of school bathrooms by transgender students. Flickr Creative Commons/Torbakhopper

Updated (11:25 AM AEDT) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull addressed the country minutes after the announcement of the same-sex marriage survey results on Wednesday. He vowed to bring the same-sex marriage bill to a vote in Parliament before Christmas.

"And now it is up to us here in the Parliament of Australia to get on with it, to get on with the job the Australian people have tasked us to do and get this done,” he said. The Australian leader had only returned to Australia on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said that “today was a fabulous day to be an Australian.” He reportedly told a crowd at a yes party in Melbourne that they may soon marry the person they love. Conservative senator Eric Abetz congratulated the yes campaign.

Australia has said yes to same-sex marriage, the result of the postal survey shows. A majority of voters or 61 percent is in favour to change the law.

Australian statistician David Kalisch announced the results of the ABS postal survey from Canberra. There were a total of 12.7 million votes and 7,817,247 people voted yes. There were 4,873,987 people who voted no.

Kalisch said participation was outstanding for a voluntary survey and well above other voluntary surveys from around the world. He point out how it shows that the issue is important to many Australians.

The number of responses was good across almost every state and area except in the Northern Territory, where only 58.4 percent of eligible voters responded. Participation in the same-sex marriage survey was more than 70 percent in 146 of the 150 electorates.

Kalisch said that participation was a little lower in younger age groups and slightly higher in older age groups. He added it is worth noting that the 18 and 19-year-olds, the youngest on the electoral roll, responded strongly, with about 78 percent participation, ABC News reports.

There were scenes of delight at yes campaign parties inside Parliament House and across the country. Labor's leader in the Senate Penny Wong was moved to tears.

In Brisbane, people expressed different reactions. Some hugged each other, cried, danced and cheered.

Those who campaigned for yes said they are all proud. “This happened because millions of Australians reached out to our own families, neighbourhoods, organisations- to stand up for equality, stand by our loved ones and share why YES was so important,” The Guardian quotes Equality Campaign’s Alex Greenwich as saying. The no camp has gathered at Sydney ahead of the announcement.