ࡱ> (*)`  bjbjss 7$ 8 , ^ ` ` ` ` ` ` $ hs*   & & &   ^ & ^ & & & @(j & ^ 0 &  L& & 8 &  888$\$888\ Dear Sir/Madam, Re: National Inquiry into Discrimination against People in Same-Sex Relationships. My partner, [name removed], and I have been happy and gay together to over 19.5 years (yes we are counting). We live together, we own our home and car, and share our lives with our extended families. [Name removed] [my partner] is an artist and doesnt undertake paid work. She is dependent on me as the sole income earner in our relationship. The Federal governments refusal to define the term spouse to included people in same sex relationships costs me over $800 every year in additional tax via the Medicare Levy. I earn over $50,000 p.a. which is the levy limit set for single people but less than the $100,000 limit set for a heterosexual person with a dependent spouse. I am also ineligible to claim a dependent spouse rebate because our relationship is same sex. My personal example of discrimination above is in relation to the ATO laws but I believe that to all Federal legislation needs have terms such as 'spouse', 'partner' 'dependent' , 'family' and 'couple' redefined to include same sex partners to fully eliminate discrimination and provide all Australian citizens with equality. Thank you for inviting my submission. Yours sincerely Trish Kernahan [Details removed] q/ K     h}h CJOJQJ^JaJhz CJOJQJ^JaJde t u     7$8$H$gdz  50P:pz / =!"#$% @@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH DAD Default Paragraph FontRiR  Table Normal4 l4a (k(No ListH@H   Balloon TextCJOJQJ^JaJ zdetu!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!detu00000000000000000detuh0 h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0h0   ?A:q/K44y- z RUCn} @)p@UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial?5 z Courier New5& zaTahoma"qh12B  B 24d  2P)?z 2Oh+'0d   , 8DLT\ Normal.dot4Microsoft Office Word@F#@?D@\hB՜.+,0 px       Title  !"%Root Entry F@j'1Table WordDocument7SummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8CompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89qRoot Entry F!Š,1Table WordDocument7SummaryInformation( +DocumentSummaryInformation8pCompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q՜.+,D՜.+,< px       Title4 $,