What constitutes a de facto relationship for Centrelink?
To determine if a relationship exists, Centrelink assesses evidence against five factors prescribed in Social Security law. These five factors are: • The financial aspects of the relationship (the degree of financial interdependence) • The nature of the household (the usual occupants of the household and the relationship between them) • The social aspects of the relationship (how a couple present themselves to society and how others view them) • Any sexual relationship between the people • The nature of the peoples’ commitment to each other After collecting evidence against these five factors, Centrelink will form an opinion about whether the customer is living as a member of a couple. Determining that a person is a member of a couple requires that the evidence that the person is a member of a couple, outweighs the evidence that the person is not a member of a couple. All five factors are considered and no single factor is seen as conclusive. Not all factors need to be present.
