Communities and Justice

Statutory review of the Relationships Register Act 2010

The NSW Department of Justice is conducting a review of the Relationships Register Act 2010 (NSW) (the Act) to determine whether the objective​​ of the Act remains valid and whether the terms of the legislation remain appropriate for securing the Act's objective.

This review is required by section 21 of the Act.

Select a link below for more information about the review.




About the A​​ct

The Act commenced on 19 May 2010.

The objective of the Act is to provide for the legal recognition of persons in a relationship as a couple, regardless of their sex, by registration of the relationship.

The Act provides an option for couples in such relationships to demonstrate their de facto status, enabling them to more easily access their rights and entitlements.

You can find out more about the Relationships Register itself on the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages website.

Submissions i​nvited
[submissions now closed]

Interested individuals and organisations are invited to make submissions to the review.

Submissions made to the review may be referred to in the final report and may be made publically available, unless you request that all or part of your submission be kept confidential.

Submissions should be sent to:

Director, Civil Law and Cabinet
NSW Department of Justice
GPO Box 31  
SYDNEY  NSW  2001

Or email your submission to policy@justice.nsw.gov.au.

Submissions due​

The closing date for submissions is Wednesday, 6 January 2016.

Submissions avail​​​able online

Submissions made to the review can be read in PDF via the links below.


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