De Facto Relationships (Northern Territory Request) Act 2003

This Act may be cited as the De Facto Relationships (Northern Territory Request) Act 2003.

This Act comes into operation on the date fixed by the Administrator by notice in the Gazette.

In this Act:

de facto partner means a person who lives or has lived in a de facto relationship.

de facto relationship means a marriage-like relationship (other than a legal marriage) between 2 persons.

financial matters, in relation to de facto partners, means any or all of the following matters:

the maintenance of de facto partners;

the distribution of the property of de facto partners;

the distribution of any other financial resources of de facto partners, including prospective superannuation entitlements or other valuable benefits of or relating to de facto partners.

property means any legal or equitable estate or interest (whether present or future and whether vested or contingent) in real or personal property of any description and wherever situated, including money and things in action.

For this Act, a de facto relationship exists even if a de facto partner is legally married to someone else or is in another de facto relationship.

In this Act:

a reference to the property or other financial resources of de facto partners includes a reference to the property or other financial resources of either or both of them; and

a reference to the distribution of any such property or resources includes a reference to the conferral of rights or obligations in relation to the property or resources.

This Act extends to de facto relationships that ended before the commencement of this Act.

The Legislative Assembly requests the Parliament of the Commonwealth to enact an Act in respect of:

financial matters relating to de facto partners arising out of the breakdown (other than by reason of death) of de facto relationships between persons of different sexes; and

financial matters relating to de facto partners arising out of the breakdown (other than by reason of death) of de facto relationships between persons of the same sex.

The operation of each paragraph of subsection (1) is not affected by the other paragraph.