【4K】

One of the biggest current debates in Australia — around marriage equality — caused a government website to crashKThursday.

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:

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

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?”

---

You May Also Like

---

---

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.

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

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.

SEE ALSO: Subway franchise prints pro-marriage equality messages on receipts

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.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

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.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

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

• Social Good
• Digital Culture
• Games
• Entertainment
• Life
• Deals
• Tech
• Science

• Operation Mensch
• In memoriam of Apple HomePod, which brought Siri into my home
• The biggest scams that rocked the crypto world in 2021
• Apple's 2022 lineup reportedly includes a rugged Watch and iPad with wireless charging
• How This Long
• How to delete individual photos from a carousel on Instagram
• With the birth of her baby brother, Princess Charlotte has made history
• Brian Baumgartner breaks down filming Kevin's famous chili cold open on 'The Office'
• Time to Unite
• How to cope with Omicron anxiety when it affects your mental health

• Inside Quinn, a new site for audio erotica
• People are sharing their accomplishments of the decade as 2019 comes to an end
• For one beautiful night, #fartgate actually united all of Twitter
• The lead couple on 'Bridgerton' have one big problem
• Here's why Twitter users are all posting Twitter Spaces links in their tweets
• Future kids are going to be pretty confused about history, thanks to this meme
• Netflix is getting blasted for using AI art in an anime instead of hiring artists
• Chrissy Teigen calls out Donald Trump Jr.'s suspiciously amazing book sales
• 'The Last of Us' star Bella Ramsey posts the perfect tweet after episode 4
• Twitter will have a free API tier for 'good' bots

• Best Garmin deal: Save over $100 on Garmin Forerunner 955
• Does Kanye West know how to retweet?
• The Rock welcomes a baby girl and delivers heartfelt advice for new fathers
• New parents trying to leave the hospital accidentally end up in the royal baby media frenzy
• Best iPad deal: Save $132 on Apple iPad (10th Gen)
• Sean Spicer introduces wax doll of Melania in historic low for America
• Happy 13th birthday to the very first YouTube video
• Does Kanye West know how to retweet?
• Scientists find supercolony of penguins on the remote Danger Islands
• All the very weird stuff you need to start an 'oddly satisfying' Instagram account

• The Sound and the “Furious”
• Why does everyone who's ever ghosted me still watch my Instagram Stories?
• In memoriam of Apple HomePod, which brought Siri into my home
• 'Wolf' should've been a short film: Review
• The Kindle Scribe just dropped to its lowest price ever, but is it worth it?
• The best Spotify Wrapped memes of 2021
• Woman was fined $500 for bringing a single apple into the airport
• How to bookmark tweets on Twitter
• Best iPad deal: Save $132 on Apple iPad (10th Gen)
• Eminem just celebrated a major milestone in his life