QLD civil unions bill passes first reading

QLD civil unions bill passes first reading

Queensland is a step closer to becoming the first Australian state to provide civil unions for same-sex couples after the Queensland State Parliament voted 46 to 30 that the bill be read a first time.

The bill will now go to the Parliament’s Health and Disabilities Committee.

The civil unions bill goes further than the scheme currently operating in the ACT in that it will allow same-sex couples to have a declaration or ceremony to legally recognise their relationship.

Celebrants will be able to apply in writing to the Registar-General to become a civil-partnership notary to perform such ceremonies.

Other Queensland laws would be amended to also include the term ‘civil partner’ where ‘spouse’ may now appear.

A civil partnership would be terminated by one of the parties making an application to the District Court.

Attempts to include a ceremonial aspect in the ACT’s civil unions schemes lead to several vetoes by the Howard and Rudd governments however the Commonwealth has no power to veto state laws.

The Star Observer understands that Queensland Labor expects to have the bill passed into law before Christmas this year.

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8 responses to “QLD civil unions bill passes first reading”

  1. “When we affirm the equality of anyone, we affirm the equality of everyone.” – Deval Patrick

  2. It is ludicrosity that there is a debate by our oppressors regarding the fundamental human rights we do or dont have on the basis of sexual orientation, this is oppression in the facade of democracy facilitated by belief systems that cannot be proven or disproven to be fact of fiction. Our sexual orientations cultural pacifism can perpetuate disrespect, violence and persecution as the general societal attitude respects fear that is why our rights, remain to them, a triviality. We should hope for the best but plan for the worst if their past conduct is anything to go by.

  3. My boyfriend (of 12 years) and I have planned for a ‘commitment ceremony’ in Far North Queensland at Easter time next year, and now it looks like we’ll be able to actually do it legally!!!! Great stuff.

  4. Actually, the ceremony provisions of the Qld bill seem to be almost identical to those currently in the ACT Act. It’s essentially a copy and paste job with some relatively minor tweaks.

    A bigger difference seems to be in the method for ending the civil partnership. Qld will require a court order to terminate a civil partnership on the ground of permanent relationship breakdown while the ACT allows people to terminate their civil partnership without court intervention. The Qld provision is similar to the grounds for divorce.

  5. ACT Civil Partnerships Amendment Act 2009 changed the law to allow for ceremonies. Is law still I believe. It’s not perfect, but it still allows for ceremonies.

    Anyway, hopefully all continues well for QLD and more importantly hopefully it won’t be too long before we have full marriage equality.

    ED: On December 10, 2009 the ACT Labor government amended the bill, doing away with the legally binding civil union ceremonies.