New Zealand tourism is getting an unexpected boost as an influx of Australian gay couples cross the Tasman to tie the knot.

Civil unions still aren't legally recognised in Australia, but pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to allow a conscience vote on the issue. This month Australian MPs will report their community's views on gay marriage to parliament but in the meantime frustrated gay couples are making their way to NZ to tie the knot.

Expat Kiwi Nick Culpitt and his partner Bruno live in Sydney but they recently travelled to Wellington to tie the knot.

"I just want the fact that we have been together for 10 years to be legally recognised," Culpitt said.

Their marriage is legally recognised in New Zealand as a civil union.

"Australia needs to really really get up with the times, they need to hurry up," said Culpitt.

However Gillard is in no hurry to change Australia's stance.

"It's my view that the Marriage Act should stay in its current form and my view is unchanged," she said.

But the Prime Minister is coming under growing pressure, with many Labor Party branches endorsing same sex marriage. ACT deputy chief minister Andrew Barr says there's a growing momentum amongst Australians to see "a discriminatory piece of Australian law amended to be more inclusive".

However Labor backbencher John Murphy says people of the Islamic faith would reject the party's push to allow couples of the same gender to get married under the Marriage Act. Meanwhile couples abroad are heading to New Zealand for their big day, even though the paperwork won't be recognised in their homeland.

"To actually come to a place and be out of the closet in a very public way and be married is just something we can't underestimate," marriage celebrant Ruth Pink says.