ࡱ> 465` bjbjss 7">,$h1*BBW pޗFm0[*[[8BB dV DV $& Date: 5th June 2006 [Name Withheld] [Details removed] 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. I am a 46yo disabled (former Federal public servant) lesbian sole parent. 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 and financial security, among other areas of my life. I have experienced discrimination in the context of finances. In 1994 when I was still attempting to work full-time, I formed a relationship with another woman who was disabled & was/is in receipt of Workers Compensation. I willingly state that her income was far in excess of my own. After some months I moved in with her and became full-time carer to her & to her children (who were still living at home). Her son was then 19yo & her daughter was 9yo. I was struggling in the work-place (as many disabled workers do) but I would have struggled on if it were not for the pressure of my partner's children needing care while she was hospitalised. And her needing care upon discharge. I have not been able to return to full-time work since. I became primary care-giver to my step-daughter & to my partner. In due course of time we bought land (together) and built a house. After my own daughter (who lived away from home) passed away, my step son moved back in with us & needed much emotional support with his grief over the loss of his step sister and with his gambling (TAB) addiction. As is the case with many families, the loss of my child tore my relationship apart (I became very depressed and my partner looked elsewhere). I regret to say that same sex relationships are prone to people behaving with just as much lack of integrity as can happen in heterosexual relationships. It is one of the many ways in which there is no difference at all. The only difference in my case is that if I had been in a defacto relationship with a man, my non-financial contribution to the relationship would have been recognised and upheld. It is also possible that I would have been able to appeal for access rights to my step daughter whom I love a great deal & was my own child's only sister. As it was I had to struggle for a year (with the aid of a solicitor) to have my capital returned to me. During which time I was in extremely poor health (as the treatment I was on at the time caused extreme nausea, pain & hair-loss) physically and emotionally (as I was deprived of contact with my step children & was being stalked by my ex). It seems that the mere fact of land, house and accounts being held in joint names meant nothing in the context of my rights. As my relationship had no legal status, I could be regarded as nothing more than a house-mate and therefore entitled to no more that it could be proved I had put in (financial input only). My architectural skills (I designed the house & worked on both planning & building permits) & my caring & parenting skills counted for nothing, in law, as my relationship could not be recognised. I now live alone & in poverty. I have no family and my health has passed the point where full-time work will ever again be possible. It seems I will continue to struggle & be a burden on society as my age and infirmity advances. This seems immoral as my only error is that (as many women do) I spent my life putting my heart & soul into caring for my loved ones; permitting myself the luxury of paid work only when I could be spared from those duties. 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