In 2000 the Lobby collected over 670 responses to the Relationship Survey from members of Melbourne's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) communities. The survey was developed by the Lobby to collect information from the community about relationships and related issues such as living arrangements, shared finances, assets, superannuation and children.
The survey was conducted in 2000, at a time when momentum was gathering for legislative change in Victoria regarding same-sex relationships. It was hoped that survey results would assist in lobbying the Government to recognise all domestic partnerships, irrespective of gender.
On 23 July 2001, the Statute Law Amendment (Relationships] Act 2001 became law. This Act extended equal legal recognition to all domestic partnerships, irrespective of gender, as had previously applied to heterosexual de facto relationships. Together with a subsequent round of amendments that became law in November 2001, this Act amended nearly 60 Victorian Acts to provide full equality of recognition.
The lobby employed Dr Richard de Visser, a researcher at the Australian Research
Centre in Sex, Health 6 Society (ARCSHS) at La Trobe University to interpret the Relationship Survey results.
Richard has conducted research into the sexual health and sexual risk behaviour of adolescents and young adults. For three years he worked on the HIV Futures project, a national survey of the social impacts of living with HIV/AIDS. Richard completed his PhD at ARCSHS in 2000, and his thesis was awarded the graduate research prize by the Faculty of Health Sciences.
A report on the findings of the Relationship Survey- "Everyday Experiments: Report of a Survey into Same-Sex Domestic Partnerships in Victoria, Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, 2001 "was launched at the AGM on 22 November 2001.
Some of the major findings of the survey included:
- 81 % of participants in regular relationships lived with their partners. Women were more likely than men to have live in relationships.
- 27% of participants had been married or in a heterosexual de facto relationship at some time in the past.
- 36% of current relationships had lasted for more than 5 years. Longer relationships were more likely to be live-in relationships, and were more likely to involve the sharing of financial resources
- 21% of participants reported that children were part of their current relationship, and 4 1 % of participants wanted to have children. Younger participants were most likely to want to have children.
- 52% of participants shared finances with their partner, and 57% shared assets.
- Although 98% of participants desired legal recognition of same sex relationships, many had different ideas about how legal recognition should proceed. The form of recognition favoured by the largest number of participants was extension of existing heterosexual relationship law to same sex relationships.
Victorian law now discriminates against lesbian and gay relationships in only two areas, both to do with having children: access to assisted reproductive technologies and adoption. The Bracks government has said it will refer these discriminatory laws to the Victorian Law Reform Commission for review.
Download to Report here>>
