Jo Nemeth (left), 56, who has lived without money for 10 years, and Sharon Brodie, 57, a social worker and domestic-violence advocate, have been friends for 28 years. Now they live together, and Sharon teasingly calls Jo her “wife”.

JO: We met in 1997 when we were both living in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, and I volunteered to help Sharon set up an organic food co-op. I remember thinking, “I’m so lucky to have met this woman, a new mum like me, who I can talk to about everything from global inequality to alternative parenting methods.”

I was going through a difficult break-up with my partner – the father of my baby daughter, Amy – at the time. He was a beautiful person, but he was also an addict. Sharon helped me through all that, not as a counsellor but as a friend.

When I decided to s

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