It is important to consider how marital, de facto and estate laws relate to people who experience the cultural effects of fear and ignorance of difference; not only in respect of race, sex and sexuality but including people who do or have experienced intersex conditions such as androgen insensitivity syndrome and transsexualism.
In heterosexual relationships such people have their property and financial rights governed either by the Family Law Act in the case of marriages or in State legislation such as the Property (Relationships) Legislation Amendment Act (N.S.W.) in the case of de facto partners.

In New South Wales people in same sex relationships have those rights governed as de facto relationships under the Property (Relationships) Legislation Amendment Act where those relationships were in existence as at 28th June, 1999.

Residence and Contact issues in respect of children involving people who experience such difference are governed in the same way, and by the same principles, as all other people. Of course, ensuring the fair application of such equality of legal right requires diligence and dedication. People who have parented children and/or who have been significant participants in the lives of children, including grandparents and non-biological parents, are entitled to Orders for Contact with the children; not just biological parents.

Wallbanks recently represented the Applicants in the case Kevin and Jennifer v The Attorney General for the Commonwealth SY8136/99, in which our client's were successful in obtaining a declaration of Australian law to confirm the marriage between a man of transsexual background and his wife to be a legally valid marriage. On 12th October, 2001 the Honourable Justice Richard Chisholm of the Family Court of Australia declared the marriage between our clients to be valid. This is an important decision for all so-called intersex people in that the law of Australia has now been declared to the effect that people who, through no fault or deficiency, experience a natural variation in human formation, are to be accorded the same basic rights as to marriage as others and are not to be punished by the denial of such basic human rights for the mere sake of their difference; as would have been the case in Australia had the United Kingdom decision of Corbett been followed as it had been recently in Texas in the United States of America and in the United Kingdom. Transsexualism was found to be within the so-called intersex continuum. The Australian Government has a right of appeal.

For further details of this landmark decision and a link to the full text of the Judgement go to Resources and Links..

Also, the parts of our site which deal with particular legal issues also discuss those issues in the context of difference in our effort to demonstrate our commitment to assist people who experience difference in their lives.