---
title: "Member of a couple: factors worksheet"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/social-security-and-veterans-entitlements/member-of-a-couple-factors-worksheet"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a56-member-of-a-couple-factors-worksheet"
area_id: "A56"
kind: "checklist"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A56-P20261018-3"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-22"
---

# Member of a couple: factors worksheet

> A worksheet of the five factors in Social Security Guide topic 2.2.5.30, used to gather documents before anyone forms an opinion about whether two people are a couple.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/social-security-and-veterans-entitlements/member-of-a-couple-factors-worksheet  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Practice area: [Social Security & Veterans' Entitlements](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/social-security-and-veterans-entitlements.md)
- Jurisdictions: Australia
- AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-22
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-22 against the authority it cites, for Australia.

## When to use it

Use when a Centrelink decision turns on whether a person is a member of a couple. It collects documents against the Guide's factors. It does not record a conclusion, and it does not draft the person's statement.

## Used for these tasks

- [Advise on a member of a couple decision](https://ailawframework.com/practice/social-security-and-veterans-entitlements/advise-on-a-member-of-a-couple-decision.md)

## How AI may be used

AI may sort documents the person has supplied against the five factors; the practitioner forms no conclusion in the worksheet and does not draft the person's account.

**AI may:**

- List documents under the five factors named in the Guide
- Flag that the Guide says no single factor is conclusive and that all five need not be present
- Flag a shared house that may still be a separation, because the Guide says emotional estrangement can exist under one roof

**AI must not:**

- Must not decide that the person is, or is not, a member of a couple
- Must not draft the person's statement about the relationship
- Must not treat the Guide's cross-references to topics 2.2.5.40 and 2.2.5.50 as if those topics had been read

**The lawyer checks:**

- The five factors are all considered, and a missing factor is recorded as unknown rather than as a point against the person
- Family and domestic violence, including financial abuse, is considered in the way the Guide requires, without a narrative being written here
- A paid care relationship is not treated as a couple relationship
- The special-reason discretion is followed into topic 2.2.5.40 before anyone relies on it; that topic was not opened

## Authorities

- [Social Security Guide, topic 2.2.5.30 Determining member of a couple relationships (five factors, none conclusive; section 4 of the Social Security Act 1991 as the Guide cites it)](https://guides.dss.gov.au/social-security-guide/2/2/5/30)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/social-security-and-veterans-entitlements/member-of-a-couple-factors-worksheet and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*