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I would like to welcome you all to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's second public forum for the National Inquiry into Discrimination against People in Same-Sex Relationships: Financial and Work-Related Entitlements and Benefits.

I would once again like to thank the Equal Opportunity Commission of Victoria for their assistance in arranging the hearings and for hosting us in their offices both yesterday and today.

This is an Inquiry into discrimination against same-sex couples regarding access to financial and work-related entitlements and benefits. Many of Australia’s laws exclude same-sex couples from financial and work-related entitlements and benefits that are enjoyed by heterosexual couples. For example, same-sex couples do not enjoy the same tax and health concessions as other de facto couples and they may not have the same rights to pensions and other social security benefits as heterosexual couples.

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.

When I was a kid, I thought that, when I grew up, I might l like to be an astronaut or an actress, or a lawyer fighting for clients on death row. It changed by the season. But at no point, that I can remember, did I want to grow up to be gay.

This discussion paper briefly discusses federal laws which exclude same-sex couples from accessing financial and work-related entitlements. The paper discusses the following areas of federal law:

This chapter explains how the provisions of international human rights treaties protect same-sex couples and their children, in the context of accessing financial and work-related entitlements. In particular, this chapter focuses on the right to non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. It also describes how the breach of that right can interfere with a range of other basic human rights, for example, the right to social security. The chapter also explains how discrimination against parents on the grounds of sexual orientation can impact on the rights of their children.

All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground...

Employment is fundamental to the lives of Australian families. For many individuals, work is their major activity outside the home, and ensures their family’s financial security.

It is simple to remove discrimination against same-sex couples in laws conferring financial and work-related benefits: amend the definitions describing a couple to include same-sex and opposite-sex couples alike.

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:

Workers’ compensation schemes are intended to provide compensation to an employee who is incapacitated because of a work-related accident or to an employee’s dependants if the employee dies because of a work-related accident.

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.

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).

Same-sex couples are not eligible for a range of rebates and tax concessions available to opposite-sex couples. This means same-sex couples may end up paying more tax than opposite-sex couples because tax legislation does not recognise their relationship.