ࡱ> *,+` bjbjss . 6666666l  " &          $H h * 6   66   q q q  6 6  q  q q 66q  Ԯ"q 0" q  L q 6q 0 ".q FZ    g   "    dd   J^666666 Date: 31/5/06 NAME Nicole vander Linden Submission to the Same Sex=Same Entitlements Inquiry. Dear HREOC, Thank you for the opportunity to make a public submission to the National Inquiry into Discrimination against People in Same Sex Relationships: Financial and Work-Related Entitlements and Benefits. Please note that my submission can be made public I am a 31 year old Women living in a 7 year same sex relationship. I work as a registered Nurse in the Public System; I have worked as a Nurse for 8 years. My partner and I are currently trying to have a baby through Melbourne IVF. I believe that to achieve full legal equality all Federal legislation should have terms such as 'spouse', 'partner' dependent, 'family' and couple' redefined to include same sex partners and, where relevant, their children. I believe that Commonwealth legal recognition of same sex relationships including families parented by same sex partners would have a positive impact on my relationships, family life, productivity at work and financial security, among other areas of my life. My most recent episode of discrimination was not directly related to employment. I was at Medicare applying for the safety net, I was asked by the person behind the counter if I was in a relationship, and I said that I was in a gay relationship and she said Oh, and I replied, I know, my relationship doesnt count to your organization. Which she acknowledged. My employer does not discriminate but to have equality in areas like superannuation, work cover and insurance payouts would offer protection that we currently do not have. Also when accessing government services our relationship is not recognized- which has actually worked in our favour in some ways. When my partner was studying she applied for a health care card, we both went in and acknowledged that I am earning in excess of the cut off and that we met the heterosexual definition of defacto but we were told again, you can write it down but it wont affect your application because your relationship is not recognised by the government. When I have a child I will be eligible for single parent benefit. I would not be eligible for this if my relationship was recognised. As a happy, productive gay woman I would much rather have my relationship recognised and protected by the law. The financial benefit that I receive is poor compensation for the ongoing neglect of my rights. Yours sincerely Nicole vander Linden hB=u T Y67 ,1h. A!"#$% L@L Normal#CJOJQJ\_HaJmH sH tH DA@D Default Paragraph FontViV  Table Normal :V 44 la (k(No List 6U@6 Hyperlink >*B*phH@H S Balloon TextCJOJQJ^JaJ  "& TY67 x x x x x x x x x x x TY67 00000000000TY67 h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0   iSt39 |D## )) 8*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsCity9*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsplace l mn ::**56  }4Ko@B=uS7@D p@UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial9Garamond5& zaTahoma"hvç&vç&f 3 3!x24d 2X)?2Oh+'0x  ( 4 @ LX`hp Normal.dot4Microsoft Office Word@F#@Q@<Ԯ@<Ԯ՜.+,0 px  3    Title  !"#$'Root Entry FԮ)1Table WordDocument.SummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8CompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89qRoot Entry FH%.1Table WordDocument.SummaryInformation( -DocumentSummaryInformation8pCompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q՜.+,D՜.+,< px  3    Title4 $,