Relevant Acts & Regulation - Victoria
Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) is governed by a number of Acts and Regulations in Victoria.
The major Act that regulates ART is the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 (Vic). This Act has a number of purposes as follows:
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To regulate the use of assisted reproductive treatment and artificial insemination (other than self-insemination); and
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To regulate access to information about the treatment procedures carried out under the Act; and
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To promote research into the incidence, causes and prevention of infertility; and
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To make provision with respect to surrogacy arrangements; and
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To establish the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority; and
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To provide for the keeping of the Central Register and the Voluntary Register by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
The Assisted Reproductive Treatment Regulations 2009 accompany the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 and outline requirements for counselling, the Central and Voluntary Registers and other items prescribed by the Act.
The Status of Children Act 1974 (Vic) outlines presumption of parentage in relation to ART procedures including donor treatment procedures, same sex relationships, single women, posthumous use of gametes and children born as a result of a surrogacy arrangement. This Act also outlines the requirements for making a substitute parentage order by the parents of a child born from a surrogacy arrangement.
The Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996 (Vic) outlines the requirements for birth registration of a child conceived by a donor treatment procedure or surrogacy arrangement.
Regulation of research in Victoria
Research in Victoria is regulated by two pieces of legislation. The Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2008 (Vic) and the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2008 (Vic) mirror Commonwealth legislation of the same name. The Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2008 regulates the use of embryos for research purposes and licensing of embryo research. The Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2008 outlines practices that are completely prohibited in Victoria and those that are prohibited unless authorised by a licence.
Copies of all Victorian legislation can be downloaded from legislation.vic.gov.au.
