One of Melbourne's best known streets has been painted rainbow where throngs of glittered, flag-wearing gays and lesbians have gathered to celebrate an "emphatic" yes to same-sex marriage.
Hundreds of LGBTIQ people and their supporters looked set to party late into Wednesday night in Lygon Street after 61.6 per cent of Australians voted to allow same-sex couples tie the knot.
"I'm stoked. I'm 30, I'm gay, I'm also engaged to my partner. So this means so much to me," Abir Ahmed, wearing a 'yes' shirt, told AAP.
"It's vindication, it's validation, it's relief. It's so many emotions just mixed into one."
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews paid tribute to "decades" of LGBTIQ activism and the strength and courage of 'yes' campaigners.
"The last few months have been a very painful time for a lot of people," he said outside the Victorian Trades Hall Council on Wednesday evening.
"Although, an emphatic yes makes everyone feel a little bit better."
Melbourne's celebrations began at 10am when the survey result was broadcast live outside the State Library of Victoria.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed 64.9 per cent of Victorians voted in favour, the second-highest of any state or territory.
The Greens and Labor seats of Melbourne and Sydney, respectively, delivered the equal highest 'yes' votes of 83.7 per cent.
Upper House Labor MP Harriet Shing said the postal vote had been hard on LGBTIQ people.
"As the first woman in the Victorian parliament, I can say that it's taken a huge toll for so many of us," she said.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten later told jubilant supporters the parliament now had the goodwill to make marriage equality happen.
"This survey wasn't perhaps the most direct route to marriage equality," he said.
"But now that Australia has voted in overwhelming numbers I promise you that by December the seventh, marriage equality will be a reality."
Draft laws to legalise same-sex marriage were introduced into parliament hours after the result, with a group of cross-party MPs supporting Liberal Senator Dean Smith's bill.
Debate on the legislation is set to begin in the Senate on Thursday, with Attorney-General George Brandis expecting the upper house to deal with it by the end of the next sitting week on November 30.
