History Of Assisted Reproductive Treatment In Victoria
Legislation
Assisted reproductive treatment (ART) has been regulated in Victoria since 1988. The first legislation passed by the Victorian Government was the Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act 1984. This Act was the first of its kind in the world. It was supported by the Infertility (Medical Procedures) Regulations 1988 which prescribed matters related to the Act such as requirements for counselling, the Central Register, artificial insemination and donor expenses.
In 1995, the Victorian Parliament passed the Infertility Treatment Act 1995, which established the Infertility Treatment Authority. This legislation was more comprehensive than the previous Act and sought to bring the law up to date with developments in science and technology. This Act was supported by the Infertility Treatment Regulations 1997 which outlined requirements in relation to counselling, information and the donor registers.
In 2004, the Victorian Government requested the Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) to review aspects of the Infertility Treatment Act 1995 and provide recommendations for changes to the Act. The VLRC presented 130 recommendations to the Victorian Government in June 2007 relating to eligibility, self-insemination, donation of gametes, posthumous use of gametes and embryos, parentage, access to information, birth registration and surrogacy. The VLRC’s position papers and final report can be downloaded from lawreform.vic.gov.au.
The recommendations made by the VLRC were considered by the Victorian Government and led to the development of the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Bill 2008. While addressing the VLRC recommendations, this bill also removed the research provisions that were contained in the Infertility Treatment Act 1995 and developed the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Bill 2008 and the Research Involving Human Embryos Bill 2008. These research bills mirrored Commonwealth legislation by the same name.
After much debate, these bills were assented in State Parliament in December 2008 and resulted in the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008, Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2008 and the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2008. These Acts can be found on legislation.vic.gov.au.
To assist in understanding the changes to legislation, the Authority has developed two documents which outline the key points of the new legislation. The first document, Changes to Victorian ART Legislation 2008 - a comparison of Act compares the main features of the previous legislation, the Infertility Treatment Act 1995 with the new Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008, highlighting the key changes. The second document, Quick Reference Guide - Changes to Victorian ART Legislation 2008, gives a brief overview of the main changes to ART in Victoria.
Professional guidelines
In addition to complying with Victorian legislation, registered ART providers are required to adhere to specific professional guidelines.
RTAC Code of Practice
The Fertility Society of Australia (FSA) first introduced a series of standards for ART clinics in 1986. The Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee (RTAC) was established in 1987 and expanded the original standards developed by FSA. RTAC has regularly reviewed the Code of Practice since this time, most recently in 2008.
Through the Code of Practice, RTAC sets professional and laboratory standards for ART clinical practice. It administers the system for accreditation of ART clinics in Australia and New Zealand. All clinics in Victoria must be accredited by RTAC.
A copy of the RTAC Code of Practice can be downloaded from fertilitysociety.com.au.
NHMRC Ethical Guidelines
In 2004, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) developed ‘Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technology in Clinical Practice and Research’. These guidelines were developed to take into account the legal requirements of national legislation in relation to prohibited and licensable activities. The guidelines were reviewed in 2007 to incorporate amendments made to the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002 (Cth) and the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2002 (Cth). These guidelines can be found at nhmrc.gov.au.
