Would formal relationship recognition schemes help same-sex couples access financial and work-related entitlements?
There is a wide range of federal legislation which uses different definitions of ‘spouse’, ‘de facto spouse’, ‘marital relationship’, ‘member of a couple’, ‘partner’ and other terms used to describe a couple. There is also a range of federal legislation which uses terms like ‘spouse’ and ‘de facto spouse’ in substantive provisions, but does not define those words. None of these laws recognise same-sex relationships. Superannuation and migration legislation and Australian Defence Force instructions have introduced the concept of an ‘interdependency relationship’. This new category recognises a relationship where there is an element of interdependency between two people – be it between members of a same-sex couple or any other two people who rely on each other. Legislation including the ‘interdependency relationship’ category will usually mean that a same-sex couple can access similar entitlements to an opposite-sex couple. But a same-sex couple is sometimes required to meet different cr
