Relationship register refused

The NSW Government has ruled out creating a state-based relationship register for same-sex couples in the immediate future.

Sydney MP and city Lord Mayor Clover Moore sought the register in a written request to NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos. She said a government investigation into legislation allowing civil unions or similar relationship recognition for any couple, regardless of gender, was needed.

Moore argued the NSW Government should advance the legal position of same-sex relationships in NSW to provide greater certainty, simpler recognition, and an alternative to de facto relationship provisions.

However, Parliamentary Secretary Barry Collier, in the absence of Hatzistergos, told Moore the government had no intention of introducing a relationship register.

Collier said numerous legislative amendments had been made by the government to extend a range of rights, benefits and entitlements to same-sex couples.

The Government believes this mechanism is appropriate in achieving equality for same sex-couples, he said.

The Government will await the outcome of a Law Reform Commission inquiry into relationships before the matter is further considered.

Same-sex couples who live together are currently treated the same as their heterosexual counterparts under NSW law with regard to issues such as health, property, inheritance, death and NSW-based workers compensation.

Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby spokesman Ghassan Kassisieh said a model of registry could help establish the existence of a relationship that would not otherwise exist under current de facto law.

He said the Lobby would lend its support to a relationship registry that gave same-sex couples the opportunity to better exercise the rights they currently have under state law.

A registration certificate would be like a birth certificate, he said. It would help prove your relationship in emergency situations.

Internationally, registries have been steps towards civil unions and marriage rights. They generate debate and put issues on the agenda.

However, Kassisieh said any such register would not provide same-sex couples with national rights or benefits such as superannuation, taxation, immigration, social security, aged care, and Medicare.

These affect all same-sex couples in Australia and are under the control of the Commonwealth Government, he said.

Cr Moore agreed action at a Commonwealth level would provide a consistent position for same-sex couples across the country, but said reform at that level does not appear likely in the short term.

I share community concern that same-sex couples should have access to formal recognition of their relationships and an alternative legal framework to marriage which, since 2004, specifically excludes same-sex couples, she said.

NSW passed de facto laws for same-sex couples in 1999, and since then other states and territories have followed. Tasmania is the only state that has a same-sex relationship registry.

Kassisieh said the ACT had tried to implement civil unions but the Federal Government overruled the move.

Vote: Should the NSW Government create a same-sex relationship registry? Vote at www.ssonet.com.au.