In 1996 the Equal Opportunity Amendment Bill was introduced which would have mirrored many provisions available in other States and provided extensive protection to people specifically in respect of sexuality discrimination. In August 1997 a similar bill was introduced into the parliament by the Democrats and at the time this report was completed was being considered by a Parliamentary Committee. Mr Foss said the WA Government had considered whether to ammend WA's Equal Opportunity Act to make it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of sexual preference. But it had decided against the move because a significant proportion of the community did not support such a change. These provisions do not include same-sex partners.
Few schemes recognise same-sex partners.
Many employers provide benefits such as payment of relocation expenses but in most companies, these apply only to heterosexual partners. Both Federal and State compensation law's allow for compensation to dependents if someone dies as a result of a work-related injury. Both use definitions of husband, wife, family etc which exclude same-sex Partners. Acts covering the adoption of children generally provide for 'stranger' adoption by married couples, and in some special needs cases by heterosexual de facto couples and individuals. These acts do not recognise same-sex relationships.