On 1 July 2009 amendments reflecting a fuller recognition of same sex couples in the Migration Act and Migration Regulations will come into force. The key change is that same sex partners will now be recognised within the definition of de facto relationship and they will be treated as spouses. They will be able to appy for spouse visas rather than in the interdependent category.
The definition of who is a member of the family unit will be changed to include the same sex de factos and this recognition will mean that any reference to "spouse" for any class of visa (including skilled, business and student visas) will be extended to the same sex de facto partner, who will now be able to be included in the application as a secondary applicant.
There are also changes to the definition of child and parent and various categories of artificial conception and surrogacy will be recognised. Some changes to these definitions have already been made to the Citizenship Act (with effect from 15 March 2009).
Although these changes only affect a relatively small number of people, they are important. The previous regime was discriminatory and unfair and these changes are positive reflection on modern Australia.
Photo used under creative commons licence.
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