Gay parents in South Australia now have the right for both parents to be listed on birth certificates.
SA was the last state in Australia to recognise same-sex parents, including non-biological parents, on birth certificates. The Family Relationships (Parentage) Amendment Bill 2010 passed through the lower house of parliament yesterday, several months after it was passed in the Legislative Council.
The Bill received cross-party support from state Labor, Liberal and Greens’ members. Liberal MP David Pisoni introduced the bill to the lower house of Parliament that won 24 votes to 15. Other members involved included MP Frances Bedford, MP Steph Key and MLC Tammy Franks.
In a statement, South Australian Labor MLC Ian Hunter welcomed the passage of the Family Relationships (Parentage) Amendment Bill 2010.
‘This legislation passed the Legislative Council several months ago by a massive margin, and has now passed the lower house by a similarly large margin,’ he said.
‘I am particularly pleased that the Bill has passed as it was one of the main recommendations of the Social Development Committee recent inquiry into same-sex parenting – which I chaired.’
‘I am pleased that South Australia has now finally caught up with the rest of the country.’
While the legislation may have received bipartisan support in parliament, not everyone was as pleased with the new laws as Hunter.
Australian Family Association SA officer Jerome Appleby told OUTinPerth he was ‘extremely disappointed’ with the move.
‘This legislation interferes with the right of children to know and be cared for, as far as possible, by their parents, contrary to Article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,’ he said.
‘We should not sanction or promote children being intentionally deprived of a mother or a father, as does this legislation.’
South Australia’s Equal Opportunity Acting Commissioner Anne Burgess said the gender make-up of a couple was irrelevant.
‘At last in South Australia, the movement to recognise same-sex rights has now been extended to the legal protection of recording a non-biological parent of the same-sex on a birth certificate,’ Burgess told OUTinPerth.
‘While this might seem a small step forward, it recognises the status of parents, it records more detail for the child, and it sends an important message about how we as a community acknowledge and value a range of diverse family structures.
‘Children thrive in a loving and caring environment, and it is right that parents who are charged with this responsibility are recognised by law. The gender make-up of a couple should always be irrelevant.’
Benn Dorrington
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