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The Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Inquiry was launched by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) in April 2006. The final report of the Inquiry was completed in May 2007 and transmitted to the federal Attorney-General.

This chapter describes how the Inquiry gathered information and community views about discrimination against same-sex couples and their children. In particular, the chapter addresses the following questions:

One father of four compares the situations of his lesbian daughter with that of his heterosexual daughter. He says that they both have families, but are treated remarkably differently in a variety of areas.

The following is a selection of extracts from these stories.[1] The stories demonstrate the compound effect of discrimination against same-sex families in the area of financial and work-related entitlements.

Tom O'Connor spoke about his experiences of discrimination in the workplace. He described how the discrimination and harassment that he experienced affected his partner's career options as he was unable to support his partner when he wanted to study.

The deadline for submissions in response to the Inquiry's first Discussion Paper was 16 June 2006. The deadline for submissions in response to Discussion Paper II was 3 November 2006.

As this Committee knows well, in April 2006 the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission launched the Same-Sex: Same Entitlements National Inquiry. Since that time we have travelled around Australia to hear, first hand, about the impact of discriminatory laws on same-sex couples and their children. We produced two discussion papers and received 680 written submissions from across Australia. And our final report was tabled in Parliament on 21 June 2007.

This chapter focuses on discrimination against same-sex couples and their families in the context of access to the Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Safety Nets.

The Inquiry received submissions from 680 different individuals and organisations. Some provided submissions in response to both the first and second round discussion papers.

The 2006-07 year has been largely dedicated to identifying and eliminating the discrimination faced by people in same-sex relationships in accessing basic financial and work-related entitlements.

The 2007-08 year has involved work on a wide range of human rights issues. This year we set ourselves the task of creating a significant human rights resource on the Human Rights web pages of the HREOC website.

In 2006, the Commission conducted a National Inquiry into discrimination against people in same-sex relationships regarding access to financial and work-related entitlements and benefits. The inquiry is known as the Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Inquiry (the Inquiry).