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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 552 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 16 September 2021 by Ms M.J. Davies

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

DE FACTO COUPLES — SUPERANNUATION SPLITTING

552. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Attorney General:

I refer to the injustice in Western Australia's legal system that means that when a de facto couple separates, they are unable to divide their superannuation entitlements when finalising a property settlement. Why has the Attorney General's government been able to fast-track ticket scalping legislation and prioritise electoral reform legislation to rip regional representation from the Parliament, but is yet to introduce this much-needed legislative change?

Mr J.R. QUIGLEY replied:

I became the Attorney General in March 2017 and one of the first things I did was to get on to the commonwealth to see whether it would pass the legislation to allow superannuation splitting. It took right through until December 2020. It took complete pestering of the commonwealth for the entire first term of me being in office to get movement over there, and it was not until December that it eventually passed the legislation. It also included provisions relating to bankruptcy concerning divorcing people, especially de facto couples, so we have to redraft some legislation in Western Australia and that currently has priority at the Parliamentary Counsel's Office.