A consultation process on the cohabitation law is to start in the coming days, Social Solidarity, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli announced this evening.

Speaking during a ‘Government that listens’ session, she said that cohabiting people are ones which share a household and some also raise children together but the relationship has not been formalised by marriage.

This, she said, could lead to certain problems faced by cohabiting couples such as when one walks out on the other and the latter is left with no financial support whatsoever.

This law, she continued, will provide legal safeguards in such eventualities.

Gay-to-straight ‘therapy’ to become illegal

Turning to LGBTiQ issues, Dr Dalli said gay-to-straight ‘therapy’ will eventually become illegal.

She explained that gay-to-straight ‘therapy’ is when attempts are made to change a person's sexual orientation.

“We are waiting for the LGBTiQ consultative council’s proposals on the issue so that we can draft a law which will lead to such ‘therapy’ becoming illegal,” she said.

Dr Dalli outlined the role of her ministry which has a number of entities which fall under her remit.

Starting off with MCESD, she said that the aim of this forum is for the government, social partners, unions, employers and civil society to engage in social dialogue under one roof.

She also referred to Muesac - a forum which provides information to Maltese society on EU matters, the Malta Competition and Consumers Authority which protects the consumer and the Medicines Authority which assesses medicines to safeguard people’s health.

“The two authorities – the MCCAA and the Medicines Authority – work hand in hand to monitor the prices of medicines through the setting up of an intelligence unit,” the minister said.

She said that the government reduced the prices of medicines four times since the beginning of this legislature but this does not mean that there aren’t prices of certain medicines  which are still pricey.

On equal rights, Dr Dalli highlighted the fact the government blacklisted contractors who promote precarious conditions by preventing them from bidding for public contracts for two years.

Dr Dalli said that despite this move, she has no doubt that some people out there are still facing poor working conditions.

She also said that enforcement inspectors from the Health and Safety Authority randomly visit companies to verify whether employers have health and safety measures in place.

On civil liberties, she said: “Not everyone is born the same. The first question we asked ourselves when we were elected to office is why we have been legislating for all these years without taking into consideration that we cannot create a system that suits everyone because people are diverse and different.”

Maternity leave fund

To combat the reluctance by some employers to employ young women for fear that they would have to partially pay for their maternity leave, she said the government launched a maternity fund, leading to “a decrease in discrimination against female applicants”.

Dr Dalli made reference to the fact that the ministry – in conjunction with the education ministry – today issued guidelines on how state schools can best handle transgender and intersex children.

She said they came across one case where a transgender female was applying for jobs, and her education certificates still showed a male name.

The Ministry helped her rectify this problem, she contined.

Malta Gay Rights Movement coordinator Gabi Calleja – who was present for this evening’s session – welcomed the policy and said the policy document is responding to real world situations.