EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Select Legislative Instrument 2008 No. 250

Issued by Authority of the Attorney-General

Acts Interpretation Act 1901

Acts Interpretation (Registered Relationships) Regulations 2008

The Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (the Act) provides rules for the interpretation of Acts of the Commonwealth Parliament.

Section 51 of the Acts Interpretation Act provides that the Governor‑General may make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

Section 22A of the Act provides a definition of ‘de facto partner’ which may be referred to by other Commonwealth laws. This definition was inserted into the Act recently by the Same-Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws—Superannuation) Act 2008 (the Superannuation Act).

Section 22B, which was also inserted by the Superannuation Act, provides a definition of ‘registered relationship’ for the purposes of the definition of ‘de facto partner’. The section provides that a registered relationship is a relationship which is registered under a prescribed State or Territory law, as a prescribed kind of relationship.

Registration of a relationship in accordance with section 22B is sufficient to establish that a person is another person’s de facto partner for the purposes of section 22A. Relationship registration will therefore provide conclusive proof that a person is another person’s de facto partner throughout a wide range of Commonwealth laws which are amended by the same-sex law reforms to use the definition of de facto partner in the Act.

The purpose of the Regulations is to prescribe State and Territory relationship registration laws, and the kinds of relationships registered under those laws, which will be recognised as ‘registered relationships’ for the purposes of section 22B.

The Regulations prescribe the Victorian, Tasmanian and Australian Capital Territory relationship registers which allow for registration of de facto relationships, whether of the same or opposite‑sex.

The Regulations prescribe:

·      each of the existing State and Territory relationship registration schemes, and

·      kinds of relationships which can be recognised under these schemes which can be described as ‘de facto’ relationships.

The Acts Interpretation Act specifies no conditions that need to be satisfied before the power to make the Regulations may be exercised.

The Regulations are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

Specific consultations were not undertaken in the development of the Regulations as the definition of ‘registered relationship’ in section 22B was recently considered by the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs’ inquiry into the Same‑Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws—General Law Reform) Bill 2008. The Regulations are necessary to give effect to the definition. The Regulations prescribe each of the existing State and Territory relationship registration schemes, and relationships as a couple which may be registered under each of these schemes.

The Regulations commence on the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

Details of the Regulations are as follows:

Regulation 1 – Name of Regulations

This regulation provides that the title of the Regulations is the Acts Interpretation (Registered Relationships) Regulations 2008.

Regulation 2 – Commencement

This regulation provides for the Regulations to commence on the day after they are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

Regulation 3 – Registered Relationships

This regulation prescribes laws and kinds of relationships for the purposes of new section 22B of the Acts Interpretation Act. Section 22B provides that a person is in a ‘registered relationship’ with another person for the purposes of the definition of ‘de facto partner’ in section 22A if the relationship between the persons is registered under a prescribed law of a State or Territory as a prescribed kind of relationship. Section 22A provides that a person is the ‘de facto partner’ of another person if they are in a ‘registered relationship’ under section 22B.

Regulation 3 prescribes relationship registers set up under the following State and Territory laws for the purposes of section 22B:

·      Relationships Act 2008 (Vic)

·      Relationships Act 2003 (Tas), and

·      Civil Partnerships Act 2008 (ACT).

Regulation 3 will thus cover each of the existing State and Territory relationship registration schemes.

The Government’s intention in formulating section 22B is to only recognise the registration of de facto relationships and not caring relationships. Accordingly, regulation 3 prescribes the following kinds of relationships under the Acts listed above:

·      under the Relationships Act 2008 (Vic) — a registered relationship that is registered under paragraph 10(3)(a) of that Act

·      under the Relationships Act 2003 (Tas) — a significant relationship as defined in section 4 of that Act, and

·      under the Civil Partnerships Act 2008 (ACT) — a relationship as a couple between 2 adults who meet the eligibility criteria mentioned in section 6 of that Act for entry into a civil partnership.