Mr. Christopher Bowes:

Insofar as it relates to people who are married or in a civil partnership, it is less clear what the Department is looking for in that scenario because the factors are not set out in the legislation in the same way as they are for cohabitants, but there is a commitment to introduce regulations in that area. I think Deputy Aird mentioned that it would be useful to see those draft regulations as soon as possible.

The regulation for qualified cohabitants is more straightforward than the Senator might think. It is usually based on the length of time lived together, whether there are children in the relationship, financial interdependence in the relationship and shared assets. It is possible and has been done for quite a while under the 2010 cohabitation and civil partnership legislation.