Schedule 1 Amendment of Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 No 48
(Section 3)
Insert in alphabetical order in section 4 (1):de facto partner of a person means the other party to a de facto relationship with the person.
de facto relationship has the same meaning as in the Property (Relationships) Act 1984.
marital or domestic status means the status or condition of being:
(a) single, or(b) married, or(c) married but living separately and apart from one’s spouse, or(d) divorced, or(e) widowed, or(f) in a de facto relationship.
[2] Section 4 (1), definition of “marital status”
Omit the definition.
[3] Section 4 (1), definition of “near relative”
Insert “, de facto partner” after “spouse”.
[4] Section 4 (1), definition of “relative”
Insert “, or the de facto partner of the person” after “adoption”.
[5] Sections 24 (2) (b), 39, 40 (1) and (2), 41, 42, 42A, 42B, 43, 44, 45, 46, 46A (1) and (2), 47, 48 (1) and (2), 48A, 49, 59 and 122C (a)
Insert “or domestic” after “marital” wherever occurring.
Insert “or domestic” after “marital”.
[7] Section 49S Meaning of “responsibilities as a carer”
Omit the definition of de facto relationship from section 49S (3).
Part 4 of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (the Act) prohibits discrimination against a person, in the circumstances described in that Part, on the ground of the person’s marital status.Item [1] of the proposed amendments to the Act, together with item [2] of those amendments, replaces the term marital status with the term marital or domestic status.
Currently, the term marital status extends to the status or condition of being in cohabitation, otherwise than in marriage, with a person of the opposite sex. The proposed new term of marital or domestic status, when read with the proposed definition of de facto relationship inserted by item [1], extends to the status or condition of being in a de facto relationship within the meaning of the Property (Relationships) Act 1984.
Item [1] also inserts a new definition of de facto partner.
Items [5] and [6] of the proposed amendments are consequential on the replacement of the term marital status with the term marital or domestic status by items [1] and [2].
Item [7] of the proposed amendments is consequential on the insertion of the new definition of de facto relationship by item [1].
The Act prohibits discrimination of various kinds (for example, discrimination on the ground of race, sex or marital status) in a number of different areas, including in the provision of accommodation. However, it is not unlawful to discriminate in the provision of accommodation if (among other things) a near relative of the person providing that accommodation resides on those premises. The term near relative of a person is defined to include the spouse of the person. Item [3] of the proposed amendments, when read with the proposed new definitions of de facto partner and de facto relationship, extends the term near relative to include the other party to a de facto relationship (within the meaning of the Property (Relationships) Act 1984) with the person.
The Act makes discrimination against a person unlawful on the ground of the race, sex, marital status, disability, homosexuality or age of a relative of the person or on the ground that the relative is a transgender person. The term relative of a person is defined to include a person who is related by marriage to the person. Item [4] of the proposed amendments extends that term to include the de facto partner of the person.