ࡱ> *,+` bjbjss 7$P P P P \ ,t t t t t t t t  $?h* t t t t t t t V V V t jt t V t V V V t h p%tP :V 0V  4V V <t t V t t t t t L t t t t t t t D D  DATE: 7 june 2006 NAME: Aly M ADDRESS:[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 29, a community lawyer, queer identifying womn and am in a lesbian relationship. 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. I have experienced discrimination in the context of health/ medicare/ hospitals/doctors. Assumptions that I am heterosexual have caused humilation, distress and pain to an ex-partner and myself. I had ankle surgery in a NSW hospital 4 years ago and my partner was not allowed to remain in the room (after hours) following the surgery- only my 'family' were- even though my mother tried to stop this blatant discrimination, the nurses claimed to be following 'orders' as they were and I had to lie there angry at a system that discounted/ignored my/ my existence/my partners existence. One of the most frustrating facts about being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer in Australia today- is that as individuals we have the protection of the law in many, many areas- but as soon as we enter into a relationship- those rights(and responsibilities) do not translate/exist- we are still seen as individuals and our valid, loving and beautiful relationships are discredited. That's discrimination, that's not on. And that's Australian societal attitudes to us today. Yours sincerely Aly M &7h}h~'CJOJQJ^JaJhICJOJQJ^JaJ89op|}C D  bc 7$8$H$gdI50P:pI/ =!"#$% @@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH DAD Default Paragraph FontRiR  Table Normal4 l4a (k(No ListHH ~' Balloon TextCJOJQJ^JaJ z89op|}CDbc!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1 !1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!89op|}CDbc0000000000000000000000000089op|}CDbch0h0h0h0 h0 h0 h0 h0 h0h0h0  h0  h0  h0  h0 h0 h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h01hh0$   swft #+ %'?E::::&7DD G'v Sx$~'CnOr}I3@PQ`@UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial?5 z Courier New5& zaTahoma"qh*ܦF*ܦF5050!24d2QX)?I2Oh+'0d   , 8DLT\ Normal.dot4Microsoft Office Word@@ʴ@ʴ5՜.+,0 px  0  Title  !"#$'Root Entry Fpv)1Table WordDocument7SummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8CompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89qRoot Entry F.1Table WordDocument7SummaryInformation( -DocumentSummaryInformation8pCompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q՜.+,D՜.+,< px  0  Title4 $,