The Commission has a reference to inquire into and review the law relating to family and domestic relationships, with particular reference to de facto relationships. The terms of reference are set out in full in paragraph 1.1 of this Report. This Report contains our final recommendations.
The Report has been prepared by a Division of the Commission. By virtue of the Law Reform Commission Act 1967, a Division is deemed to be the Commission for the purposes of the reference in respect of which it is constituted. The Division on De Facto Relationships consists of the following members of the Commission:
We acknowledge the valuable contributions of Dr Owen Jessep, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of New South Wales, and Mr John Wade, Senior Lecturer, University of Sydney Law School, in the preparation of this Report.
We also acknowledge the assistance of Mr Michael Orpwood, Deputy Parliamentary Counsel, who undertook the onerous task of preparing the draft legislation attached to this Report. We express our appreciation to the Parliamentary Counsel, Mr D R Murphy, for making available the resources of his office to enable the drafting to take place.
A number of people and organisations have made submissions to us, or participated in seminars and consultations on the reference. They are listed in the Appendices to this Report. We are most grateful to all those who have assisted us.
Members of the Commission’s staff who participated in the preparation of the Report are the Research Director, Marcia Neave, and Helen Mills.
The Commission expresses its appreciation to the important contribution made by the administrative, library and secretarial staff in particular the former secretary, Bruce Buchanan, and Mrs Deborah Donnellan and Mrs Zoya Wynnyk.
