To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives

This petition of citizens of Australia draws to the attention of the House:

• the failure of the government of Australia to provide a system throughout Australia for the registration and certification of marriages or its equivalent for same sex couples;
• this means that such couples are deprived of civil status when travelling or wishing to live abroad, resulting, inter alia, in inability to gain foreign family visas, consequent inability to take up work opportunities overseas, loss of next of kin rights and liability to enormous death duties (being “strangers”) on the death of one;
• furthermore Australia refuses to recognise foreigners’ civil status certificates of same sex couples who come to Australia or wish to migrate here and has failed to seek reciprocal rights with foreign countries;
• we note that Victorian same sex Registered Partnerships are not recognised as equivalent to registered same sex relationships in France, Ireland, UK or in any country that we know of
• which is all a denial of our fundamental human tights We therefore ask the House to:

Take urgent action to introduce a nationwide or consistent system, of sufficient status for it to be likely to be recognised abroad, for registration and certification for such couples and to make its best endeavours to ensure that the civil status of all Australians is recognised by all countries.