South Australian female co-parents to both be recognised on child’s birth certificate
A BILL聽has been passed in South Australia repealing a rule unique to the state wherein female parents聽using donor sperm at home or in a clinic had to be living together for at least three years before they could be listed on their child’s birth certificate.
The new legislation will allow both mothers to be listed on their child’s birth certificate irrespective of how long they have been living together.
The Family Relationships (Parentage Presumption) Amendment Bill was passed in the lower house of South Australian Parliament, having already passed the upper house in June last year.
The government and the opposition allowed their MPs聽a conscience vote after a debate, with a majority 29 voting in favour of the bill, and 12 against.
Upper house Greens MP聽Tammy Franks said she was glad the bill finally passed after being the one to introduce it last year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 quite emotional 鈥� I heard a story from one of the affected families who said that their girl ran into school to announce to her class that both of her parents can be on her birth certificate now,鈥� she told the Star Observer.
Franks cited South Australian same sex couple Sally and Elise Duffield as an example of the discrimination that had been taking place.
鈥淭hey were considered by the government to be a couple, but they hadn鈥檛 quite lived together for three solid years,鈥� she said.
鈥淪o because Elise was a little too fertile 鈥� which is usually not seen as a bad thing 鈥� and gave birth before they鈥檇 lived together for three years, their baby Tadhg hasn鈥檛 had a birth certificate for the first 22 months of his life.
鈥淭his law was a South Australian oddity鈥� it could鈥檝e been fixed by the government but it took the chutzpah of Sally and Elise to stand up for their son and help to change it.鈥�
Very proud to have wkd with & & all colleagues to finally secure
— Katrine Hildyard MP (@KatrineHildyard)
https://twitter.com/susan_close/status/697326345513103360
Rainbow Labor SA co-convenor Thomas Mooney welcomed the new bill but said there was more to be done.
鈥淪outh Australia used to be a leader on these kinds of issues, we were the first to decriminalise homosexuality,鈥� he told the Star Observer.
鈥淭his is a great step forward but unfortunately we鈥檙e still lagging behind.鈥�
The passage of this bill is the first in what will be a busy year for LGBTI law reform in South Australia.
The South Australian Law Reform Institute plan to deliver reports on laws around sexual reassignment, surrogacy, and exceptions in the Equal Opportunity Act.
鈥淓very one of those areas of outstanding discrimination has a real impact on members of the LGBTI community,鈥� Mooney said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about symbolism, people鈥檚 lives are impacted聽and no-one is more important than the other.
鈥淭he community has been campaigning for these reforms for some time, and it鈥檚 important that the community comes together to fight as a united front.鈥�
Let’s look at South Australia:
1. There is still a gay panic defence within common law;
2. Both surrogacy and IVF access is banned for same-sex couples;
3. There is no formal relationship recognition scheme, such as a civil union or a relationship register; and
4. Same-sex couples can not adopt children
What about recognising overseas SSMs that was promised, or did the SA Premier change his mind again?!
Congratulations SA on fixing 1 out of 140 SA laws that discriminates against LGBTI people! This SA Labour government is full of promises, but never delivers! According to a recent review of SA laws, there are 140 laws to fix (Flinders University LGBTI Law Reform Review August 2015 Report). This is outrageous in 2016!
SSO reports are incorrect. The law of SA (as with all other Australian territories and states) already recognise parentage for women, who have female partners since 2011! Typical SSO, can not get its facts right! All this bill does is to repeal the 3 year relationship minimum requirements for recognition! SA needs to get it head out of the sand and pass some real legislation – such as a civil union scheme, abolish the gay panic defence and also allow gay couples to adopt children!