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The following 58 legal instruments must be amended to eliminate discrimination against same-sex couples and their children in the area of financial and work-related entitlements.

Employment is fundamental to the lives of Australian families. For many individuals, work is their major activity outside the home, and ensures their family’s financial security.

The Unlocking Doors Project was a series of forums, workshops and consultations conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission throughout 2006, which brought Muslim peoples and communities in New South Wales and Victoria into a dialogue with Police. This dialogue sought to strengthen Muslim peoples’ relationship with law enforcement agencies and build on the capacity of the…

Same-sex couples are not eligible for a range of rebates and tax concessions available to opposite-sex couples. This means same-sex couples may end up paying more tax than opposite-sex couples because tax legislation does not recognise their relationship.

This chapter focuses on discrimination against same-sex couples and their families in the context of access to the Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Safety Nets.

It is simple to remove discrimination against same-sex couples in laws conferring financial and work-related benefits: amend the definitions describing a couple to include same-sex and opposite-sex couples alike.

Superannuation is one of the main ways of saving for retirement. It is designed to provide financial security for individuals and their families in retirement; or when a person dies unexpectedly.

The following chapter summarises the findings and recommendations made in each of Chapters 4 – 16 in this report. This chapter should be read in conjunction with Appendix 1 which sets out the list of legislation to be amended in order to eliminate discrimination against same-sex couples and their children.

This chapter explains how the provisions of international human rights treaties protect same-sex couples and their children, in the context of accessing financial and work-related entitlements. In particular, this chapter focuses on the right to non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. It also describes how the breach of that right can interfere with a range of other basic human…

This chapter describes how the Inquiry gathered information and community views about discrimination against same-sex couples and their children. In particular, the chapter addresses the following questions:

When people enter an aged care facility they usually have to pay certain daily fees and other payments to fund their care and residence. The Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth) (the Aged Care Act) sets out how those fees and payments should be calculated in both public and private aged care facilities.

This chapter focuses on discrimination regarding the entitlements available to veterans of the Australian Defence Forces who have a same-sex partner or children.

Social security is an income support system that acts as a safety-net for people who, for some reason, are unable to financially support themselves. Entitlements to social security are largely governed by the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) (Social Security Act) and the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 (Cth) (Family Assistance Act). The payments are usually administered by Centrelink.

This report is a brief summary of the observations made by the Human Rights Commissioner and staff of the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission). These summary notes and recommendations are based on what we personally observed and heard from staff and detainees during our immigration detention facility inspections.

As part of the Inquiry’s audit of federal, state and territory laws, the Inquiry has identified a range of laws which potentially discriminate against same-sex couples and families, but do not fall within the previous topic-specific chapters.

Many same-sex couples who appeared at the Inquiry’s community forums talked about the problems they face in getting visas. They highlighted the limited options available to a same-sex couple wanting to migrate to Australia as a couple. They talked about the additional expense and disruption to their lives in proving their entitlement to a visa. And they talked about the indignity of being…

Workers’ compensation schemes are intended to provide compensation to an employee who is incapacitated because of a work-related accident or to an employee’s dependants if the employee dies because of a work-related accident.

Organisations and individuals raised a range of issues with the Inquiry that did not fall strictly within its Terms of Reference. Where these issues relate to one of the main chapters of this report, they are discussed within that chapter.

The issue of divorce never arises for same-sex couples, since they cannot legally marry. However, a same-sex couple, like an opposite-sex de facto couple, may need the assistance of a court to resolve property and child-related issues if their relationship breaks down.