Editing Civil union (section)

===New Zealand===
{{Main|Civil union in New Zealand}}
[[File:Civil union map Oceania.svg|thumb|300px|right|'''Countries performing civil unions in Oceania'''
{{legend|#3F48CC|Gender-neutral civil unions.}}
{{legend|#DDDDDD|Civil unions never performed.}}
]]
On 9 December 2004 the [[New Zealand]] [[Parliament of New Zealand|Parliament]] passed the Civil Union Bill, establishing civil unions for same-sex and opposite-sex couples.<ref name="NZ_Herald_9002456">{{cite news |date=9 December 2004 |title=Civil Unions Bill passed |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=9002456 |accessdate= |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Seuffert, Nan --- "Sexual Citizenship and the Civil Union Act 2004" [2006] VUWLawRw 13; (2006) 37(2) Victoria University of Wellington Law Review 281 |url=https://www.nzlii.org/nz/journals/VUWLawRw/2006/13.html |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=www.nzlii.org}}</ref> The debate over Civil Unions was highly divisive in New Zealand, inspiring great public emotion both for and against the passing. A companion bill, the Relationships (Statutory References) Bill was passed shortly thereafter to remove discriminatory provisions on the basis of relationship status from a range of statutes and regulations. As a result of these bills, all couples in New Zealand, whether married, in a civil union, or in a de facto partnership, now generally enjoy the same rights and undertake the same obligations. These rights extend to immigration, next-of-kin status, social welfare, matrimonial property and other areas.

The [[Civil Union Act 2004]] came into effect on 26 April 2005 with the first unions able to occur from Friday 29 April 2005.