Cairns Regional Council Australia To Launch Same Sex Couple Register As Alternative To Marriage

Cairns Regional Council Australia plans to launch a same sex couple register to provide an alternative to marriage for gay, lesbian and transgender couples as early as 2012. The Cairns Post reports an alliance of local support groups is working with the council on the register as a way of providing official recognition of same sex relationships. Proponents say it would provide a sense of wellbeing for same sex couples and provide a legal mechanism to make it easier for them to prove their relationship. Similar relationship registers already exist in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania on both a state and local government level. But Queensland does not have a state-wide register, which would provide equal legal entitlements for all couples. It is unclear what legal power the Cairns register would hold. The move coincides with a call by Federal Labor powerbroker Anthony Albanese yesterday for the party to hold a conscience vote on same-sex marriage at the national conference later this year. The national conference in Sydney in December will debate whether to change the Australia Labor Party platform to support laws allowing same sex marriages. A number of state ALP conferences have already made the change and federal MPs this week will report back to parliament on what their electorates think on the issue. Cairns Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Alliance spokesman Nick Thompson, who is running for the council in Division 4, said the Cairns register would be the "next best thing" to marriage. "We’re pleased that the council is now developing a policy about how the register might work, including a consultation period where the public can have a say," Thompson said. “It will be great for Cairns couples but also has benefits for tourists who might want to visit Cairns to have their relationship formally recognised. In a lot of cases people in same-sex relationships who can’t have a formal ceremony use these types of registers. They can have benefits for their overall wellbeing."