Relationships (Civil Partnerships) and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2015

Friday 9 October 2015 @ 9.26 a.m. | Legal Research

The Queensland Government introduced the Relationships (Civil Partnerships) and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2015 into Parliament in the middle of September 2015 to restore the provisions of the Relationship Act 2011.

Provisions of the Bill

As part of the Government’s election promise, a commitment was made to provide couples of any gender with the option of participating in an official ceremony prior to having their relationships registered. The objective of this current bill is to ensure that these promises are kept and that adult couples, regardless of their gender, can have an official ceremony to acknowledge and celebrate their relationships.

In her second reading speech, Queensland Attorney General, Yvette D’Ath, explained how the Civil Partnership Act 2011 introduced the relationship registration process as well as provided the opportunity for adult couples to participate in an official ceremony prior to registration. She went on to describe the legislative changes introduced by the LNP Government in 2012 that saw the removal of official ceremonies and the renaming of civil partnerships as registered partnerships.

The bill will change the name of the Act back to the Civil Partnerships Act and amend other terminologies used throughout the Act including replacing references to ‘registered relationship’ with ‘civil relationship.’ In her second reading speech, the Minister admits that these are small amendments but they nevertheless mean so much to many couples in the Queensland community. 

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Sources:

Relationships (Civil Partnerships) and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2015 and secondary materials as reproduced on TimeBase LawOne

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