ࡱ> <>=` bjbjss ."  c$> > > > > $hz> > 6KKK"> > KKK`j> 2 MtO "6'<c>,i"ijji~8Zs@K4A c To Whom It May Concern: I am writing to convey my disgust with the on going discrimination faced by same sex attracted people in Australia today. I live in Launceston Tasmania with my partner of 7 yrs. We own our home and also have a rental property we are paying off. We are a two car, two income family and have a baby on the way. All sounds pretty normal? Its not. We are discriminated against on a daily basis i.e. Financial- Medicare- Same Sex Attracted Australians in relationships are not seen as a couple/in a significant relationship, and where there are children involved the child is not seen as part of a family, thus we are not entitled to the threshold as a family unit and must claim as individuals. This is highly discriminatory as we then pay more for our medical needs than Heterosexual Australians. Tax- When Same Sex Attracted Australians put in tax returns and seek tax breaks, for any reasons re family, we are unable to do so and therefore are not given the same entitlements as Heterosexual Australians. We must always claim as individuals. Superannuation- At present recently passed legislation has not yet been enforced with regard to the payment of Superannuation benefits to partners in same sex relationships or to the children involved in same sex relationships when the child is the non-biological child of the person signing off their superannuation benefit. This is our money and needs to be respected as such PAST AND PRESENT! Presumptive parenthood laws- These laws vary from state to state and are not consistent. This lack of consistency is of great financial/legal burden to many same Same Sex Attracted Australians. In Tasmania the law specifically states that same sex parents accessing IVF or AI (artificial insemination-with an unknown donor) are unable to place the non- biological mothers name on the birth certificate. However if a Heterosexual couple accessing these same services would like to place the non-biological fathers name on the birth certificate they can! This is the only legislation in Tasmanian Law that is plainly discriminatory. By placing the non-biological mothers name on the birth certificate we are able to be seen as the parent and can by-pass many expenses and create a legally safe environment for our children to grow up in. These expenses consist of; Lawyers fees (~$3000.00)regarding, last will and testament to state who our estates are left to and thus show intent with regard to parenting arrangements, Adoption application (~$300.00), interim parenting order/and/or/guardianship order (cost as yet unknown), all of which can be challenged/overturned in a court of law by ANYONE who disagrees with our situation. This causes the family unit to consistently be legally unsafe for the child in the event of accident or death of one or both of the parents. Work- Both my partner and I work for supportive workplaces. My employer is willing to offer me 1week (2 days paid, 3 days paid via leave accrued) parenting leave on the arrival of our child and 51 weeks un-paid maternity leave if I am the primary carer for our child regardless of biological relationship. My partner works for a feminist based organisation that does not, as yet, offer parenting leave (but have stated that they will if a team members partner becomes pregnant). They do offer 12mths un-paid parenting leave also. I would like to ask the committee to note that many people in the community still feel unable to take part in these sorts of communications with government bodies for general fear of further discrimination and thus the submissions may be of low number. Also there may be a perception of this exercise being futile due to the ongoing discrimination faced by same sex attracted Australians and John Howards recent comments, this does not mean that the discrimination noted on these submissions is not endured by a growing number of Australian Same Sex Families as it is a normal part of life for all of us. 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