State marriage should be between two or more consenting adults, and religious organisations (including Churches) shouldn't deal out state marriages.
That is why the state needs to find a different word what it does: The recognition that two persons are now an "economic unit".
Marriage has a sacred dimension to it for many religious people: most Christians regard marriage as a sacrament, Taoists feel the sacredness of marriage in the presence of (long dead) ancestors, etc, etc.
You are absolutely correct in saying that churches should not hand out state marriages. It does not make sense in present-day Australian society.
It is a hang-over from the "old country", where the Church of England was a state institution, and as such administered the marriage act for the crown (or some such thing).
In most European and Asian countries anyone wishing to get a state marriage needs to present to the registry office (or their local equivalent). Religious marriage is something one may choose to do afterwards (or before, in some cases that I am aware of on Asia).
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