Love Makes a Family Campaign
fact #1: Not all children are treated equally under Victorian law.
fact #2: Right now you can help remove this discrimination.
fact #3: It’s love that makes a family!
fact #1: Not all children are treated equally under Victorian law.
In 2002 the Victorian Government asked the Victorian Law Reform Commission to conduct an enquiry into all laws relevant to reproductive technology and adoption, and their impacts on children, including those with same-sex parents.
During its five-year enquiry the Commission reviewed three decades of research and received over 1000 submissions. In June 2007 the Commission reported to the Government that:
- children are in no way disadvantaged by having same-sex parents, only by discriminatory laws and attitudes
- it is quality of parenting, not the sexual orientation or marital status of parents that determines outcomes for children
- children of same-sex parents are disadvantaged by laws that fail to recognise or protect their family relationships, and
- laws preventing same-sex couples and single people from accessing simple fertility procedures like donor insemination are unfair and undermine the health and wellbeing of children.
The Commission made 130 recommendations, including changing the law and birth certificates to recognise same-sex parented families, and removing discriminatory barriers to fertility treatment, adoption and surrogacy for same-sex couples and single people.
To read the report call 8619 8619 or visit www.lawreform.vic.gov.au.
fact #2: Right now you can help remove this discrimination.
Love Makes a Family is a community campaign coordinated by the Rainbow Families Council, supported by the ALSO Foundation and the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby. We work for legal and social recognition of same-sex parented children and their families. So far we have helped motivate and support hundreds of people affected by the laws to have their say in the Commission’s Enquiry.
After years of campaigning for rainbow family law reform, we’re finally on the home stretch. Legislation is due in Victorian Parliament in mid-August 2008. But with both the ALP and Liberals allowing a conscience/free vote on the issue, we urgently need your help to convince every single Member of Parliament (MP) to support reform. We need to win their hearts and minds.
Our job now is to convince all 128 Victorian Members of Parliament that these reforms are needed by children and families, and supported by the broader community. We must show them that this is about real children, real parents and real families.
Everyone can help: lesbian and gay parents and prospective parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, friends and workmates.
The best thing you can do to help is to tell your local MP why you think the laws need to change, and how law reform will affect you and your family. You don’t have to know all the technical details. Just talk about your own story and views.
SO WHAT DO YOU DO TO HELP?
Tell your MP why you think the laws in Victoria need to change. There are two ways to go about it.
Send a Family Photo to your MP
Send a family photo to your MP with a brief message to accompany the photo, telling the MP why law reform is important to you and your family...read more about our Rainbow Family Photo campaign, including sample letters and photos from other families.
Visit Your MP
Visit your MP to discuss the issues in person. We have lots of resources to make it easy to visit your MP. Download the Handy Hints and Cheat Sheet for quick reference, or look through our Information Pack.
You have one lower house Member of Parliament (MLA) for your local electorate, and five upper house Members (MLCs) representing your area. To find them, ring the Victorian Electoral Commission on 13 18 32 or look under “Members” at www.parliament.vic.gov.au.
 MP Visits Handy Hints Sheet | downloads: 388 | type: pdf | size: 333 kB |
How to find your MP, make an appointment, what you might say and FAQs. |
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| MP Visit Cheat Sheet | downloads: 406 | type: pdf | size: 317 kB |
Summary of useful status and facts, including a table with current laws, impacts on children and families and relevant VLRC recommendations. |
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| "Three facts" flyer | downloads: 328 | type: pdf | size: 420 kB |
This plain language flyer explains what discrimination exists in Victoria against children and rainbow families, and how you can help. |
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Now’s the time family and friends can REALLY show their support. Encourage them to visit their MPs, or go together.
In August and September, the campaign is targeting the 20 ALP Members of Parliament who are Ministers in the Victorian Government. 206 towns and suburbs are represented by Ministers, click here to find out if you live in one that is - we need you!
Collect signatures for a Parliamentary Petition supporting reform
Here's another easy way to support the campaign. Fiona Richardson, Member for Northcote, has put together a Parliamentary Petition supporting reform. Please download the petition, collect signatures and send back to Fiona.
fact #3: It’s love that makes a family!
In 2007 there is no denying that Australian families are diverse. There are children living across Victoria with same-sex parents. It’s in their best interests to have certainty about their parents’ legal status, and for all parents to be subject to the usual responsibilities. Discriminatory laws do not stop people from creating loving homes and families. They simply undermine the rights of the children who live in our rainbow families. After all, it’s love that makes a family!
CAMPAIGN NEWS
Federal HREOC Same-Sex Same Entitlements report tabled in Parliament |
| Posted by Sarah Marlowe (sarah) on Jun 21 2007 at 11:20 PM |
Rainbow Families Council welcomes the final report of the federal Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission report, which found that 58 federal laws discriminate against same-sex couples, many of them also discriminating against children of same-sex couples.
The HREOC report called for same-sex couples to be included in the definition of de facto relationships in relevant federal laws, which "could help end daily discrimination suffered by more than 20,000 same-sex couples in Australia", according to the report, tabled in Federal Parliament today.
The Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Report, officially launched in Sydney on Friday 22 June by Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes AM, found that 58 federal laws denied same-sex couples and their children basic financial and work-related entitlements available to opposite-sex couples and their children.
Chapter five of the report pays particular attention to the rights of children and families, and includes many quotes and personal stories from rainbow families. Rainbow Families Council made submissions to the Enquiry (as Fertility Access Rights Lobby) and congratulates all the individuals and families who spoke at the Melbourne hearings, and all those who wrote submissions.
Commissioner Graeme Innes said: “This discrimination is completely unfair. There are 58 federal laws breaching the most fundamental of human rights principles – non-discrimination, equality before the law and the best interests of the child.”
Mr Innes pointed out that same-sex couples often pay more tax than opposite-sex couples because of discrimination in tax law, yet they cannot expect the same entitlements in employment, workers’ compensation, veterans’ entitlements, health care subsidies, family law, superannuation, aged care and immigration law.
“Simple amendments to the definitions in a raft of federal laws would end this discrimination,” Mr Innes said.
President of HREOC, John von Doussa, who also led the Inquiry, said the discriminatory laws also have a negative impact on children.
“The Inquiry found that the best interests of children would be better protected if federal, state and territory laws changed to recognise the relationship between a child and both parents in a same-sex couple,” Mr von Doussa said.
The Same-Sex: Same Entitlementsreport is based on HREOC’s 2006 National Inquiry into discrimination against people in same-sex relationships in the area of financial and work-related entitlements. The Inquiry held public hearings and community forums around Australia and received 680 submissions covering a range of topics, many of which described first-hand the impact of discriminatory laws on same-sex couples and their children.
The final report is available online at www.humanrights.gov.au/human_rights/samesex/report/.
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Sharing our stories through the mainstream and community media is a powerful way to break down stereotypes, change attitudes and help change the law. We provide information, contacts and resources to support you to speak out, tell your story and create change.
