Commonwealth Powers (De Facto Relationships) Act 2003

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.

For the purposes of 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.

A reference in this Act—

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

to the distribution of any property or resources mentioned in paragraph (a) 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.