Image copyright Marion Jonkers Image caption Jill Kindt (L) and Jo Grant were married on 15 December 
 
 A dying woman and her partner were the first same-sex couple to legally marry in Australia, it has been revealed. It was allowed to proceed without the 30-day waiting period because Ms Grant was terminally ill with a rare cancer. Ms Grant died from cancer on 30 January, less than seven weeks after marrying Ms Kindt. Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said Ms Kindt and Ms Grant were approved, married, and registered all in one day, after the Registrar ruled exceptional circumstances. Staff from Births, Death and Marriages also played an important role — with one staff member even driving from Brisbane to a roadside service station on the way to the Sunshine Coast to meet the celebrant and deliver the paperwork necessary for the marriage to take place. In 2013, Ms Kindt and Ms Grant held a commitment ceremony, or a "promise day" as they called it, and considered themselves to be each others' spouses ever since. She said officials went to "extraordinary lengths" to make Ms Grant and Ms Kindt's wedding happen quickly. "We considered ourselves married [in 2013], but in a legal sense we weren't," said Ms Kindt, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "Jo and I got to be legally married for 48 days - I'll take that," Ms Kindt. Australia's first same-sex weddings occurred from January 9 but some couples, such as Ms Kindt and Ms Grant, were eligible for exemptions allowing them to wed earlier.
– It was initially reported that the first same-sex couples to wed after Australia legalized gay marriage last year did so on Dec. 16—but it has now been revealed that Jo Grant and Jill Kindt were actually the first couple to marry under the new legislation, on Dec. 15. Grant was receiving palliative care for cancer at the time, and Queensland's state attorney general says officials went to "extraordinary lengths" to make sure the couple was granted a waiver to skip the official 30-day waiting period most couples in the country had to undergo, with one official staffer driving 60 miles to deliver necessary paperwork to the couple. Their marriage was approved, they were married in their garden, and registered all within a day; it was just six days after same-sex marriage became legal. Grant died Jan. 30, the BBC reports. "Jo and I got to be legally married for 48 days—I'll take that," says Kindt. The couple had been together eight years, and considered themselves married ever since a 2013 commitment ceremony. "I know there are other couples that were married that weekend, and for different reasons. They are among the first … and the reason we did is a tremendously sad one, and I'd trade everything for not having to stand here and talk about this story," said the attorney general when revealing the historic marriage to Queensland's parliament, per ABC. "I'm glad the story's been told for Jo, and I loved hearing her name being said in Parliament today," said Kindt, adding that the wedding "was great, it was really good. It was legal … Jo very much wanted it to happen, as I did."