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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-11-19 Daily Xml
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BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES REGISTRATION (REGISTRATION OF DEATHS) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 19 February 2009. Page 1645.)

Ms SIMMONS (Morialta) (10:42): I would like to speak very briefly to this. The government opposes the bill. The bill proposes that if a person dies in South Australia leaving an opposite-sex de facto partner, that person's name and the deceased's age when they began living together should be recorded as part of the official registration of the death.

The government agrees with the member for Davenport that a surviving de facto partner should be acknowledged in the registration of the death. However, as it is the government's policy to avoid unjustified discrimination between same-sex couples and opposite-sex de facto couples, it should be extended to cover domestic partners, as that term is defined in the Family Relationships Act 1975 whether or not that person is of the opposite sex to the deceased.

The bill before the house proposes to deny equal recognition to same-sex partners, so the government does not support it in its current form. Instead, the government intends to vary the regulations to the act so as to require funeral directors to supply, and the registrar to record, the name of the person's domestic partner, if any, at the date of death. This is a much simpler process, thus the government believes that there is no need to amend this act.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (10:44): I thank the member for her contribution.

Second reading negatived.

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