Archive Article

NSW GLRL article

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The Lobby fights discrimination against lesbians and gay men and their children. You can be part of this fight.

If you would like to help or make a donation to our work, please contact us.

You don’t have to be experienced to get involved. You just have to want to make a difference.

After a long fight by the lesbian and gay community, since 28 June 1999 same sex couples have enjoyed most of the same rights in NSW as heterosexual de factos.

De facto relationships are relationships between two adults who live together as a couple. Domestic relationships include those who live together where one provides the other with domestic support and personal care. This doesn’t cover flatmates or paid carers but is intended to include other carers.
Other requirements sometimes have to be met. The most important is that, in some cases, people need to have lived together for 2 years. This depends on the right in question.

Although we now enjoy many rights, some problems remain and we do not yet have full equality. Changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act and some smaller pieces of NSW legislation still need to be made. Other relationships, including those of couples who don’t live together, don’t have sufficient legal protection. And there have been no changes made to important areas of law which are governed by the Federal Government, including superannuation.