ࡱ> 465` <bjbjss 7<    ,6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6        $ h%6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 K  6 6 6  6   6 * `1i @  a 0 J   (6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 D Dear Commissioners I would like to start by thanking the Commission for this opportunity to express my concerns about the rights of same-sex couples under federal law. My partner Andreas Ohm and I have been together for almost nineteen years, and in every respect we are a committed couple. Last year, in 2005, I individually reached the Medicare Safety Net threshold, but Andreas' subsequent medical expenses were reimbursed by Medicare at the pre-Safety Net rate. This is because as a same-sex couple, we are not recognised as a family under the Medicare Safety Net provisions. The actual financial loss to us was small I estimate around $200.00. However this came as something of a shock to us, because it brought home the fact that generally the instances of discrimination against same-sex couples under federal law take place when sickness or frailty or relationship breakdown have already made things bad for the couple. It prompted us to investigate the other areas of discrimination which we will potentially face as we prepare for retirement and old age. When one or both members of a same-sex couple are sick, the same- sex couple receives less in Medicare reimbursements than a comparable opposite-sex couple. A member of a same-sex couple is unable to make salary-sacrifice contributions into the partner's superannuation account, or make use of the superannuation-splitting provisions available to opposite-sex couples. In retirement, opposite-sex couples are entitled to make tax-free transfers from a larger to a smaller superannuation account, in order to maximise their benefits. This entitlement is denied to same-sex couples. As a result, we can expect a higher tax burden in retirement, though the amount of this impost cannot be calculated yet. If a member of an opposite-sex couple is incapacitated and requires nursing home care, a federal guarantee protects that persons partner from having to sell the family home to finance a nursing home place. This guarantee does not apply to same-sex couples, so we would face the possibility of being forced to sell our home if one of us ever became incapacitated. Both Andreas and I are still healthy, and will be working for many years yet. However we are apprehensive that in retirement the protections available to older opposite-sex couples will not be made available to us. I believe that in the first instance, many of these inequities can be addressed by changing the definition of de facto couple in every piece of federal legislation where it appears to de facto or same- sex couple. This would give us equal protection under federal law to opposite-sex de facto couples. In the second instance, reverting the Marriage Act to its previous definition and allowing same-sex couples to marry would ensure that all other inequalities were neutralised. Sincerely Jim Woulfe q r 0 1 ;<hhCJOJQJ^JaJhCJOJQJ^JaJ % & / 0 gh?@rs#$./: 7$8$H$gd<:;< 7$8$H$gd50P:p/ =!"#$% @@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH DAD Default Paragraph FontRiR  Table Normal4 l4a (k(No ListH@H O Balloon TextCJOJQJ^JaJ< %&/0gh? @ r s # $ . / : ; > 000000000000000000000000000000%&gh? . / : ; > h0 h0h0h0j0h0j0h0 #h0 h0 h0 h0j0h0  lh0 h0 j0h0< :< < > > mmnnooppqqrrsstt: : ; > > Ozg-R@ qO < @UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial?5 z Courier New5& zaTahoma"h  !r47 7 2HX(?2Dear CommissionersSamantha Edmonds Emily GrayOh+'0tl  ( 4 @LT\dDear CommissionersSamantha Edmonds Normal.dot Emily Gray2Microsoft Office Word@F#@JP@JP ՜.+,0 hp  Human Rights Commission7  Dear Commissioners Title  !"#$%&()*+,-.1Root Entry FP24i3Data 1TableWordDocument7SummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8'CompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89qRoot Entry Fdh9Data 1TableWordDocument7 87  Oh+'0p$d,L  < \ D 4 TDear Commissioners Normal.dot1Microsoft Office Word  SummaryInformation( DocumentSummaryInformation8tCompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q՜.+,D՜.+,@ hpx  7  Dear Commissioners Title 4 $,