Western Australian couples became the first in Australia to benefit from a new do-it-yourself relationship kit. A number of WA community groups have pledged their support for the legal kit, designed to allow both heterosexual and same-sex couples to declare their relationship in every State and Territory in Australia. The kit has different versions to account for variations in state law and is available for download from www.declaredrelationships.info.

The new ‘declared relationships’ were launched by Gay and Lesbian Equality (GALE), Gay and Lesbian Community Services (GLCS) and the Perth branch of the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) to coincide with the International Day of Families.

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GALE convenor Rod Swift said that the kit had been launched to help couples prove they are in a de facto relationship when required by governements and businesses.

‘WA de facto couples do not have access to a relationship register like the one that operates in Tasmania and is proposed for Victoria’, Mr. Swift said.

‘We have therefore launched a legal kit to allow a couple to declare their relationship by statutory declaration’.

Mr. Swift also called on WA Premier Alan Carpenter and Attorney-General Jim McGinty to follow through on a policy decision by the recent Labor Party National Conference urging all States and Territories to enact relationship registration schemes.

‘The Federal ALP’s policy now supports non-married couples having access to a registration system run by their State government to protect their relationships’, Mr. Swift said.

‘Such a scheme would protect the rights of de facto couples by issuing them with a certificate that proves without any shadow of a doubt their relationship exists. We urge Mr. Carpenter and Mr. McGinty to bring WA into line with the ACT, Victoria and Tasmania and implement a comprehensive de facto registration scheme’.

The legal kit can be used by both gay and straight couples. Mr. Swift believes this fact, ‘is important. For an organisation [GALE] arguing for equality, we don’t just want to make gays equal to everyone else, we want to make everyone equal. So, this applies to every de facto couple. It is morally right to offer it to everyone’.

Mr. Swift also said, ‘We are doing this, but we shouldn’t have to. People are taking things into their own hands to protect their relationships. The government should do that’.