{"id":"commonwealth-powers-de-facto-relationships-act-2004","name":"Commonwealth Powers (De Facto Relationships) Act 2004","slug":"commonwealth-powers-de-facto-relationships-act-2004","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"vic","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":176272,"registerId":"vic-commonwealth-powers-de-facto-relationships-act-2004-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commonwealth Powers (De Facto Relationships) Act 2004","content":"Version No. 002\n\n**Commonwealth Powers (De Facto Relationships) Act 2004**\n\n**No. 84 of 2004**\n\nVersion as at  \n16 August 2012\n\n**table of provisions**\n\n*Section Page*\n\n1 Purpose 1\n\n2 Commencement 1\n\n3 Definitions 1\n\n4 References 2\n\n5 Termination of references 3\n\nENDNOTES 4\n\n1. General Information 4\n\n2. Table of Amendments 5\n\n3. Explanatory Details 6\n\n**Version No.** **002**\n\n**Commonwealth Powers (De Facto Relationships) Act 2004**\n\n**No. 84 of 2004**\n\nVersion as at  \n16 August 2012\n\n**The Parliament of Victoria enacts as follows:**\n\n\t1 Purpose\n\nThe purpose of this Act is to refer certain financial matters arising out of the breakdown of de facto relationships to the Parliament of the Commonwealth for the purposes of section 51(xxxvii) of the Constitution of the Commonwealth.\n\n\t2 Commencement\n\nThis Act comes into operation on a day to be proclaimed.\n\n\t3 Definitions\n\n(1) In this Act—\n\n***de facto partner*** means a person who lives or has lived in a de facto relationship;\n\n***de facto relationship*** means a marriage-like relationship (other than a legal marriage) between two persons;\n\n***financial matters***, in relation to de facto partners, means any or all of the following matters—\n\n(a) the maintenance of de facto partners;\n\n(b) the distribution of the property of de facto partners;\n\n(c) the distribution of any other financial resources of de facto partners, including prospective superannuation entitlements or other valuable benefits of or relating to de facto partners;\n\n***property*** means any legal or equitable estate or interest (whether present or future and whether vested or contingent) in real or personal property of any description and wherever situated, including money or choses in action.\n\n(2) For the purposes of this Act, a de facto relationship exists even if a de facto partner is legally married to someone else or is in another de facto relationship.\n\n(3) A reference in this Act—\n\n(a) to the property or other financial resources of de facto partners includes a reference to the property or other financial resources of either or both of them; and\n\n(b) to the distribution of any such property or resources includes a reference to the conferral of rights or obligations in relation to the property or resources.\n\n(4) This Act extends to de facto relationships that ended before the commencement of this Act.\n\n\t4 References\n\ns. 4\n\n(1) The following matters, to the extent to which they are not otherwise included in the legislative powers of the Parliament of the Commonwealth, are referred to the Parliament of the Commonwealth for a period commencing on the day on which this Act commences and ending on the day fixed, pursuant to section 5, as the day on which the references under this Act are to terminate, but no longer—\n\n(a) financial matters relating to de facto partners arising out of the breakdown (other than by reason of death) of de facto relationships between persons of different sexes;\n\n(b) financial matters relating to de facto partners arising out of the breakdown (other than by reason of death) of de facto relationships between persons of the same sex.\n\n(2) The operation of each paragraph of subsection (1) is not affected by the other paragraph.\n\n\t5 Termination of references\n\ns. 5\n\n(1) The Governor in Council may, at any time, by proclamation published in the Government Gazette, fix a day as the day on which the references under this Act are to terminate.\n\n(2) The day fixed under subsection (1) must be no earlier than the first day after the end of the period of 3 months beginning with the day on which the proclamation is published under that subsection.\n\n(3) The Governor in Council may, by proclamation published in the Government Gazette, revoke a proclamation published under subsection (1), in which case the revoked proclamation is taken (for the purposes of section 4) never to have been published.\n\n(4) A revoking proclamation has effect only if published before the day fixed under subsection (1).\n\n(5) The revocation of a proclamation published under subsection (1) does not prevent publication of a further proclamation under that subsection.\n\n\n\nENDNOTES\n\nEndnotes\n\n1. General Information\n\n\n*Minister's second reading speech—*\n\n*Legislative Assembly: 14 October 2004*\n\n*Legislative Council: 11 November 2004*\n\nThe long title for the Bill for this Act was \"to refer certain financial matters arising out of the breakdown of de facto relationships to the Parliament of the Commonwealth for the purposes of section 51(xxxvii) of the Constitution of the Commonwealth and for other purposes.\"\n\nThe **Commonwealth Powers (De Facto Relationships) Act 2004** was assented to on 23 November 2004 and came into operation on 9 October 2008: Government Gazette 9 October 2008 page 2323.\n\n1. Table of Amendments\n\n\nEndnotes\n\nThere are no amendments made to the **Commonwealth Powers (De Facto Relationships) Act 2004** by Acts and subordinate instruments.\n\n1. Explanatory Details\n\n\nEndnotes\n\nNo entries at date of publication.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: referring financial matters from de facto relationship breakdowns to the Commonwealth. No amendments have been made since enactment, and the scope has not expanded beyond the specific constitutional reference described in the long title."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute (5 operative sections)","Minimal defined terms (only 4 key definitions: de facto partner, de facto relationship, financial matters, property)","No cross-references to other legislation except constitutional provision (section 51(xxxvii))","Simple conditional logic limited to termination mechanism (section 5)","Straightforward purpose with no exceptions to exceptions","Single operative mechanism (the reference of power in section 4)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis is a **reference of power** from the Victorian Parliament to the Australian (Commonwealth) Parliament. It allows the federal government to make laws about money and property disputes when de facto couples (unmarried couples living together in a marriage-like relationship) break up.\n\n**Key points:**\n\n- **Who it affects:** People in de facto relationships in Victoria — including same-sex and opposite-sex couples — when their relationship ends (but not when a partner dies).\n- **What it covers:** Financial matters like property division, spousal maintenance (financial support after separation), and superannuation (retirement savings).\n- **Why it matters:** Normally, family law is a mix of state and federal responsibility. This law gives the Commonwealth the power to handle these disputes instead of Victorian courts, creating a consistent national system. This was part of a broader national scheme where states referred these powers so that de facto couples could access the federal Family Court system.\n- **Special features:**\n  - It applies even if the relationship ended *before* this law started (retrospective effect).\n  - A de facto relationship counts even if one person is married to someone else or in another de facto relationship.\n  - Victoria can take back this power by issuing a proclamation (official announcement), but must give 3 months' notice.\n\n**In short:** Victoria is lending its law-making power to Canberra so that breaking up as a de facto couple works the same way as breaking up as a married couple — through the federal family law system."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act's scope as enacted matches its stated purpose: it refers specified financial matters arising from de facto relationship breakdowns (both same‑sex and different‑sex) to the Commonwealth (Purpose, s.1; References, s.4), extends to past relationships (Definitions, s.3(4)), and includes a Governor‑in‑Council termination mechanism (s.5). No amendments are recorded in the provided endnotes."},"complexity_factors":["Inter‑governmental constitutional referral: the Act transfers specified State matters to Commonwealth legislative power under s.51(xxxvii) (Purpose, s.1; References, s.4).","Broad substantive scope: 'financial matters' includes maintenance, property distribution and other financial resources such as prospective superannuation (Definitions, s.3(1)).","Wide property definition: 'property' covers present, future, vested or contingent legal and equitable interests anywhere (Definitions, s.3(1)).","Retroactive coverage: the referral extends to de facto relationships that ended before commencement (Definitions, s.3(4)), raising transitional and evidentiary consequences.","Separate but independent referrals: same‑sex and different‑sex relationship matters are listed separately and operate independently (References, s.4(1)(a),(b); s.4(2)).","Temporal and executive control: termination is controlled by Governor in Council proclamation with a mandated 3‑month notice period and limited revocation rules (Termination, s.5(1)–(5)).","Overlap qualifier: references apply only 'to the extent to which they are not otherwise included in the legislative powers of the Parliament of the Commonwealth', creating potential overlap questions between existing Commonwealth powers and the referral (References, s.4(1))."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act refers to the Commonwealth Parliament jurisdiction over certain financial matters arising from the breakdown of de facto relationships. It covers maintenance, property and other financial resources (including prospective superannuation), applies to both same‑sex and different‑sex de facto couples, extends to relationships that ended before commencement, and remains in effect only while the reference is in force."},"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act appears to serve its original and narrow purpose: referring constitutional power over de facto relationships to the Commonwealth. There is no indication from the available text that its scope expanded beyond this single, well-defined constitutional mechanism."},"complexity_factors":["Involves constitutional concepts (referral of legislative power) that are unfamiliar to most people","Short and narrow in scope — limited to a single constitutional mechanism","Requires understanding of Australian federalism (the division of powers between state and federal governments) to fully appreciate","The provided text is sparse and largely structural/metadata, making full analysis difficult","Consequential effects (on Family Law Act application) are indirect and require cross-referencing other legislation"],"plain_english_summary":"Victoria refers power to the Commonwealth to allow federal laws to cover de facto relationships, so property and financial disputes between unmarried (including same‑sex) couples can be dealt with under federal law. \n\nThat shift lets federal family courts handle de facto separations like divorces, creating more consistent national rules for dividing assets and finances."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/commonwealth-powers-de-facto-relationships-act-2004","history":"/api/acts/commonwealth-powers-de-facto-relationships-act-2004/history","analysis":"/api/acts/commonwealth-powers-de-facto-relationships-act-2004/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/commonwealth-powers-de-facto-relationships-act-2004/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/commonwealth-powers-de-facto-relationships-act-2004/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/commonwealth-powers-de-facto-relationships-act-2004/documents"}}