The former Howard Government had blocked a similar plan last year and the previous federal Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, had promised to do so again.
The new federal Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, says however, that Labor is unlikely to block the ACT proposal.
Mr McClelland said that while Labor opposes civil marriage for same-sex couples, it supports giving those couples the same legal rights as de facto heterosexual couples.
"I will have a look at what Simon Corbell is proposing and get some advice on it," said Mr McClelland.
"We would be prepared to look at it with good faith rather than with the intention of obstructing it. The Labor Party has already resolved not to agree to gay marriage but we are given to examining appropriate forms of registration of de facto relationships, including same-sex de facto relationships."
Mr McClelland said Labor still supported a law passed by the Howard Government in 2004 that defined marriage as exclusively a union between a man and woman.
