Australian Marriage
Equality (AME) has congratulated Qantas Airways Limited
for changing its policy on recognising the same-sex
marriages of its employees.
"Many
employers already, no doubt, recognise their employee's
same-sex marriages", said Glenn Limond, AME national
secretary.
"But this policy change is
worth noting. Qantas is not only a very large employer, with
over 30,000 staff, but is also an Australian icon".
Qantas wrote to
an employee in March 2005 refusing to update his marital
status in their records to 'married':
"We are unable
to approve your marital status in eQHR (employee
records) as married because Australian law does not
recognise same sex marriages. Pursuant to the terms of
the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth), marriage is defined as the
union of a man and a woman."
But Qantas has
now changed its position.
On 26 May 2006, Qantas
Executive General Manager People, Kevin Brown, wrote to the
same employee:
"Qantas is
willing to recognise you...as married and will record
your status as married. Qantas will treat you and your
family in the same manner as it treats all married
staff."
AME believes the recent
decision was based, in part, on an email the employee
forwarded to Qantas on 21
May 2006 from the former Chief Justice of the Family
Court, the Honourable Alastair Nicholson AO RFD QC, in which
he wrote:
"While
Qantas correctly sets out the present state of
Australian law, I agree with your view that there is
nothing to stop a private employer permitting your
husband to be described as your spouse on its
documentation and I can see no legal impediment to
it doing so. Indeed it would in my view be an
appropriate step for it to take. It may be that it
takes the view that to so describe your husband
could constitute an admission by it in the event of
your marital status being relevant in proceedings
against it, but I do not think that this is so
because the description in its records could not
operate to change the law."
After sighting the
employee's Canadian marriage certificate, Qantas has
now updated its employee records to reflect his
status as 'married'
and recorded the
description of his partner
as 'husband'.
"Australians are increasingly unwilling to co-operate
with discriminatory laws. The end of the same-sex
marriage ban cannot come quickly enough", said Glenn Limond.
