Western Australia will become the latest state to take same-sex marriage legislation into their own hands after Greens Lynn MacLaren announced her intention to introduce a bill to state parliament.

The state with a population of 2.3 million joins South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Australian Capital Territory in initiating their own gay marriage legislation following a prolonged national campaign which may come to nothing.

The Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has had to use a back entrance to avoid facing protesters in favor of same-sex marriage at Perth, Western Australia’s Curtin University.

Gillard used a back way into the university’s new Health Innovation Research Institute which she was officially opening.

The protesters began shouting ‘Shame Gillard, shame!’ when they learned she had slipped by them.

Lesbians are more likely to binge drink and take drugs, according to a new study in Australia.

In the survey of almost 900 women, Western Australia's Curtin University found that lesbian and bisexual women use legal and illegal drugs more than the general population.

Drinking was also found to be higher. While 86% of the sample reported they drank alcohol, which is similar to the broader population, levels of risky drinking were higher.

The Australian Census 2011 published today has 33,714 same-sex couples registered, and 1,334 of them described themselves as married - the first time that they were able to do so on a census.

The information from the latest five-yearly census shows that there are more male than female same-sex couples (17,583 to 16,131).