Making it official

If you have a partner we consider you a member of a couple.

You’ll need to let us know if you become partnered. This is so we can pay you the right amount.

If you or your partner are making a claim for a payment, you’ll need to confirm your relationship status with us.

We assess relationship types as married, registered or de facto.

De facto relationship

A de facto relationship is where you and your partner meet all of these conditions:

• you’re in a relationship similar to a married couple
• you’re not married or in a registered relationship
• you're over the age of consent in the state or territory you live in
• you're not in a prohibited relationship under section 4(12) and section 4(13) of the Social Security Act 1991.

Being in a de facto relationship can have an effect on what payments you can get and your payment rate.

There’s no minimum time period for a relationship to be de facto.

There are different relationship rules for ABSTUDY Living Allowance, Youth Allowance and Disability Support Pension.

When you tell us about your relationship change, it can help us determine if you're independent for these payments. This may affect your rate of payment.

If you get one of these payments and you’re dependent, we don’t consider you as a member of a couple.

Read more about the independent and dependent rules for:

• ABSTUDY Living Allowance
• Youth Allowance for job seekers
• Youth Allowance for students and Australian Apprentices
• Disability Support Pension

Boyfriends, girlfriends and non-binary relationships

If you have a boyfriend, girlfriend or are in a non-binary relationship, we may consider you as being in a de facto relationship.

If we assess your relationship type as de facto, it means you’re a member of a couple.

You need to tell us about your boyfriend, girlfriend or non-binary relationship. We may need to assess your relationship to decide if you’re a member of a couple. This is so we pay you the right amount.

Registered relationship

One way to make your relationship official is to register it in your state or territory.

Read about how to register your relationship in your state or territory. You can’t do this in the Northern Territory or Western Australia. These links will take you away from our site.

Australian state or territory law doesn’t recognise relationships registered in other countries. You can still use this evidence to show you and your partner are in a de facto relationship.

Marriage

Marriage is the union of 2 people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life. Read the Marriage Act 1961 on the Federal Register of Legislation website.

The Attorney-General’s Department website gives you information on what to do before and after you get married.

Name change

When you get married or partnered, you may decide to change your name.

If you change your name, it’s important to tell us.

To change or correct your legal name, we’ll need:

• an original document from a state or territory births, deaths and marriages registry
• your consent to verify the document.

You need to bring your documents to a service centre so we can update our records.

There are also some things you’ll need to do depending on which state you live in. These links will take you away from our website.