|
Reforms to more than 100 federal laws that discriminate against same-sex couples will be phased in over the next year, with most taking effect as early as July, a move that has been unanimously welcomed by GLBT lobby groups and advocates.
Attorney-General Robert McClelland will announce today that the reforms will include fixing inequalities in tax, superannuation, health care, veteran's affairs and social security, and will be provided for in the May 13 federal budget.
Though most reforms will commence soon after the legislation is passed, reforms that may disadvantage some couples in areas such as social security, tax and veterans’ affairs will be phased-in to allow time for couples to adjust their finances and for administrative arrangements to be implemented.
However if the reform package is to become law before the new financial year, it will still need the support of at least some Coalition Senators, who enjoy a majority in the upper house until July 1.
After that, the balance of power in the Senate will fall to Family First's Steve Fielding and Independent Nick Xenephon.
Opposition leader Brendan Nelson has given his own in-principle support to the reform agenda, but he is yet to win formal party backing for his stance, and his colleagues are reportedly unhappy with his performance to date.
The announcement has been welcomed by GLBT advocates, activists and lobby groups.
"Each day thousands of same-sex partners and their children face serious financial and legal disadvantage. The changes will remove discrimination in areas such as superannuation, taxation, health care costs and employment", said Emily Gray, Co-Convenor of the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby NSW (GLRL).
"We welcome the changes and call on all parties to support the reforms when they are introduced in parliament. With every state and territory now equally recognising same-sex de facto couples, these federal reforms are well overdue."
Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) said the Rudd Government is to be congratulated on keeping their pre-election promise.
“This legislation now removes the invisibility [same-sex couples] have lived with for too long and brings the federal government into line with state governments across Australia,” the group said in a statement.
Australian Coalition for Equality (ACE) spokesperson Rodney Croome welcomed the timetable for reform and said it would ease the burden on elderly and retired same-sex partners who will now have certainty in regard to their superannuation, aged care and pension entitlements.
"We call on the Coalition and its leader, Brendan Nelson, to extend full, bipartisan support to the Government's proposal so that it is not delayed in the Senate, and so that a clear anti-discrimination message is sent to the Australian public."
He said supporters of equality must continue to pressure the Rudd Government to ensure reform is as comprehensive as possible.
"It is deeply disappointing that the Government is not prepared to accept equality in marriage, but I look forward to same-sex de facto law reform rekindling the debate on why full legal and social equality is needed," he said.
Australians for Marriage Equality (AME) spokesperson Peter Furness said the government had "got it wrong by asserting that discrimination is only about financial entitlements".
"Important as it is, ending discrimination is not just about money. It is about how we, as gay and lesbian Australians, are valued as human beings in our own country, by our own country.
"Most of us consider our right to marry a birthright but until we too are allowed to marry, and have our marriages legally recognised, then neither we nor the government can claim that we are truly equal under Australian law," Furness said.
However, Attorney-General Robert McClelland is expected to stress the practical benefits of the reforms.
"The changes will provide for equality of treatment under a wide range of Commonwealth laws between same-sex and opposite-sex de facto couples," McClelland will say today.
"They will make a practical difference to the everyday lives of a group of our fellow Australians who have suffered discrimination under Commonwealth laws for far too long."
Australian Christian Lobby chairman Jim Wallace said the reforms would be scrutinised to ensure they did not undermine the institution of marriage.
"What we would not want to see are changes in areas that confuse the definition of family or undermine the definition of marriage," he told Fairfax newspapers.
 |
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
