Australia

Australia Information Region Oceania Population 21,260,000 GDP (millions USD) 908,826 National Policies Eggs for assisted reproduction commercial prohibited Eggs for research commercial prohibited Inheritable genetic modification PROHIBITED Preimplantation genetic diagnosis social uses prohibited Reproductive cloning PROHIBITED Research cloning regulated Sex selection "social uses prohibited" is not in the list of possible values (?, PROHIBITED, regulated, Social uses prohibited, no policy) for this property. Surrogacy commercial prohibited; unrecognized International Agreements 2005 UN Cloning Vote YES 2005 UNESCO Sports Doping Convention RATIFIED

Governance in Australia is federalized, with significant power distributed to its states and territories, and policies addressing human genetic and reproductive technology are made at both federal and state levels.

Key laws and policies

• Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Bill (2006, in force June 12, 2007)
• National Health and Medical Research Council, National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007)
• National Health and Medical Research Council, Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technology in Clinical Practice and Research (September 2004)

Prohibited practices

Federal legislation in Australia bans reproductive cloning and inheritable genetic modification.

Individual states have the authority to permit or prohibit research cloning.

The Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technology in Clinical Practice and Research, issued by the National Health and Medical Research Council, is the policy document of the body that regulates assisted reproductive technology and related research. The Guidelines prohibit commercial surrogacy, and limit the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis to the avoidance of serious medical conditions. They do, however, encourage further public discussion of these and other issues.

The Guidelines are not mere recommendations, but there are potential limitations due to Australia's federal system. Laws among states vary. However, the Department of Human Services of South Australia says that "States must comply with the NHMRC Guidelines unless specific legislation regulating reproductive technology overrides."

State laws uniformly make surrogacy contracts unenforceable, granting custody to the birth mother or birth parents.

The Australian Health Ethics Committee, which governs how medical research is conducted, ruled in 2005 that sex selection techniques should not be used in Australia.

Permitted and regulated practices

Providing eggs for reproduction or for research is limited to noncommercial transactions.

History

The 2006 Act amended and broadened the scope of previous legislation:

• Prohibition of Human Cloning Act 2002
• Research Involving Embryos Act 2002

External links

• National Health and Medical Research Council