The details below are summarised from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sydney, 2007:
Federal laws breach human rights
The Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Inquiry conducted an audit of federal laws relating to financial and work-related entitlements in order to identify those which discriminate against same-sex couples and their children.
Federal laws breach human rights
The Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Inquiry conducted an audit of federal laws relating to financial and work-related entitlements in order to identify those which discriminate against same-sex couples and their children.
The Inquiry has identified 58 federal laws which discriminate against same-sex couples in the area of financial and work-related entitlements. Those laws breach the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Many of the federal laws discriminate against the children of same-sex couples and fail to protect the best interests of the child in the area of financial and work-related entitlements. Those laws breach the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Simple amendments will remove discrimination
It is simple to remove discrimination against same-sex couples in federal financial and work-related entitlements: change the definitions in the 58 laws listed in the report.
There is no need to rewrite federal tax legislation, superannuation legislation, workers’ compensation legislation, employment legislation, veterans’ entitlements legislation or any other major area of federal financial entitlements. There just needs to be some changes to a few definitions at the front of each relevant piece of legislation.
The Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Inquiry recommends that:
1. The federal government should amend the discriminatory laws identified by the Inquiry to ensure that same-sex and opposite-sex couples enjoy the same financial work-related entitlements.
2. The federal government should amend the discriminatory laws identified by this to ensure that the best interests of children in same-sex and opposite-sex families equally protected in the area of financial and work-related entitlements.
It seems so far the major political parties and the media have not paid much attention to these findings. The details are to be presented sequentially in most capital cities. Maybe those Aussies reading might like to contact their federal MP and ask what is happening from a federal perspective with regard to amending these laws.
For the HREOC report website: click here
For details of your Federal MP: click here
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