The words "man and woman" and "husband and wife" will be replaced by "two people" in the Marriage Act under Bill Shorten's proposal to redefine marriage in Australia.
Under the changes gay couples who have already married overseas would have their unions recognised under Australian law, with the repeal of section 88EA of the Act.
And, as flagged by Mr Shorten earlier this week, ministers of religion will not be required to solemnise a marriage where the parties to the marriage are of the same sex.
The Labor leader's bill to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia, which will be introduced to Federal Parliament on Monday, defines marriage as "the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life".
The current definition in the Marriage Act, which would be replaced, states it is "the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life".
The repeal of section 88EA and the redefinition of marriage as between two people would reverse former prime minister John Howard's 2004 amendments to the Act.
The same-sex marriage bill, Marriage Amendment (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015, allows a union between two people regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status.
And there is greater detail in the bill than Labor MP Stephen Jones' 2012 amendment to the Marriage Act - which was voted down - in that it spells out the word "partner" can be used instead of "husband" or "wife".
The release of the bill comes as momentum for an alternative, cross-party same sex marriage bill grows.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young confirmed she had also had discussions with Liberal MP Warren Entsch and Labor MP Graham Perrett about backing a "tri-partisan bill" that would end the political impasse over the issue.
At the same time, two more Labor MPs, Stephen Jones and Amanda Rishworth, have conceded that a compromise cross-party bill - rather than the bill proposed by Mr Shorten - may offer the best chance to pass the social reform.
Fairfax Media revealed on Thursday that Mr Entsch and Mr Perrett had discussed and were prepared to work on a compromise bill if Mr Shorten's push stalls in the Parliament.
Since then, Mr Perrett has appeared to cool on the idea, telling ABC News Radio the proposal was "idle chatter" and tweeting "there is no other legislation other than the @billshortenmp piece. I'm happy to work with Warren & Theresa [Gambaro, another Liberal supporter of same-sex marriage] on supporting it."
But Senator Hanson-Young told Fairfax Media on Friday that she believed a co-operative approach was required to pass the reform and confirmed she was involved in discussions too about the three political parties jointly sponsoring a bill.
"Both Warren and Graham are wonderful advocates and of course the Greens have been at the forefront but we were never going to be able to do it on our own," she said.
"I obviously can't sponsor a lower house bill from the Senate, but in terms of it being a Labor-Greens-Liberal bill, I have spoken directly to them both about it."
On Friday, Liberal MP Alan Tudge told Sky News it appeared Mr Perrett had been pressured by Mr Shorten's office to withdraw support for a co-sponsored bill, though Mr Perrett said that was rubbish.
