Notes on table 6

A person who wilfully makes a false statement in a statutory declaration under the Statutory Declarations Act 1959 as amended is guilty of an offence against that Act. The punishment for which is a fine not exceeding $200 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or both, if the offence is prosecuted summarily, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years if the offence is prosecuted upon indictment.

A statutory declaration under the Statutory Declarations Act 1959 as amended may be made only before a Chief, Police, Resident or Special Magistrate, Stipendiary Magistrate or any Magistrate in respect of whose office an annual salary is payable, a Justice of the Peace; a person authorised under any law in force in Australia or its Territories to take affidavits, a person appointed under the Statutory Declarations Act 1959 as amended or under a State Act to be a Commissioner for Declarations, a person appointed as a Commissioner for Declarations under the Statutory Declarations Act 1911, or under that Act as amended, and holding office immediately before the commencement of the Statutory Declarations Act 1959, a Notary Public, a person before whom a statutory declaration may be made under the law of the State in which a declaration is made, or a person appointed to hold, or act in, the office in a country or place outside Australia of Australian Consul-General, Consul, Vice-Consul, Trade Commissioner, Consular Agent, Ambassador, High Commissioner, Minister, Head of Mission, Commissioner, Charge d'Affaires, or Counsellor, Secretary or Attache at an Embassy, High Commissioner's office, Legation or other post.

Guidelines for investigating relationship status (including defacto). These are contained in section 11A VEA.    

• Length and exclusiveness of relationship.
• Is there a sexual relationship?
• Is there a mutually supportive relationship (i.e. emotional rather than, or in addition to, the sexual relationship)?
• Are there shared finances (i.e. joint accounts, shared assets, shared bills)?
• Is the housework shared?
• Is there a shared social life?
• How do friends and family perceive the relationship?
• How do they introduce themselves (i.e. as husband and partner, or as friends)?
• If there are any children from the relationship, who supports them emotionally and financially?

To verify the above you may need to obtain:

• details of financial circumstances, such as bank statements, investment certificates, loan documents, credit cards, mortgage/rental papers, title deeds, insurance policies that are held in joint names
• copies of tax returns
• statements from friends and family
• a separate interview from each partner to ensure both have the same idea of the relationship
• an assurance from Centrelink that they are either not paying, or are paying only one of the partners, at the partnered or single rate.

In certain cases it may be useful to seek address histories from various State or Australian Government bodies including State traffic authorities, financial institutions, Centrelink, ATO, Australian Electoral Commission etc. These cases may include:

• where a determination is made that a client is in a de facto relationship, and consequently pension is reduced from a particular date, however, documents contained on the client's pension file indicate otherwise
• where the client still asserts that they are not in a de facto relationship.