RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendation 1
7.65 The committee recommends that jurisdictions which
do not already have legislation in place, namely Queensland, Tasmania, the
Northern Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory, should, as a matter
of priority, establish legislation to regulate donor conception in those
jurisdictions.
Recommendation 2
7.66 The committee recommends that the Australian
Government pursue all available policy and political options, including through
the Council of Australian Governments and the Standing Committee of
Attorneys-General, to ensure that nationally consistent legislation relating to
donor conception is developed as a matter of priority.
Recommendation 3
7.67 The committee recommends that any nationally
consistent legislation should include, at a minimum:
- a prohibition on donor anonymity;
- a limit on the number of families a donor is able to assist;
- rights of access by donor conceived individuals to identifying
and non identifying information about their donor and siblings; and
- protection for the welfare and interests of donor conceived
children.
Recommendation 4
7.68 In the context of the development of nationally
consistent legislation relating to donor conception, the committee recommends
that the Australian Government and state and territory governments give
consideration to how private donor conception arrangements can best be
regulated to ensure the rights of donors, recipients, and donor conceived
individuals are appropriately protected.
Recommendation 5
7.69 The committee recommends that the Australian
Government, through the Standing Committee of Attorneys General, do everything
possible to ensure the establishment, as a matter of priority, of a national
register of donors, and that such a national register should also include
information about donor conceived individuals.
Recommendation 6
7.70 The committee recommends that a national register
established by the Australian Government and state and territory governments
should have a particular focus on:
- security arrangements;
- privacy protections; and
- a clear articulation of the role of the body administering the
register.
Recommendation 7
7.71 While the committee strongly recommends the
establishment of a national donor conception register, if this is not achieved,
the committee recommends that each state and territory should put in place
their own centralised register.
Recommendation 8
7.72 The committee recommends that, in the
establishment of state and territory central registers, consistency in approach
to the granting of access to information held on those registers should be a
matter of priority.
Recommendation 9
7.73 The committee recommends that a central register,
either in the form of a single national register or a separate register in each
state and territory, should operate according to the following principles
regarding access to information:
- donor conceived individuals should be able to access
identifying information about their donor, once the donor conceived person
reaches 18 years of age, or such younger age as agreed by all states and
territories;
- donors should be able to access identifying information about
individuals conceived as a result of their donation only with the consent of
the donor conceived person;
- donor conceived individuals should be able to access
identifying information about their siblings only with the consent of those
siblings; and
- donors, donor conceived individuals, and recipient parents, as
well as close relatives of donors or donor conceived individuals, should be
able to access non-identifying information about the donor or donor conceived
person, as applicable (provided that where a donor conceived individual seeks
information, the person is at least 16 years of age, or such younger age as
agreed by all states and territories).
Recommendation 10
7.74 The committee recommends that, if after further
consideration by the states and territories of the issue of retrospectivity,
registers will not be retrospective, a national voluntary register or separate
register in each state and territory should be established to allow donors who
previously donated anonymously to agree to have their information recorded and
disclosed to any individuals conceived as a result of their donation.
Recommendation 11
7.75 The committee recommends that donors in private
arrangements be encouraged to have their information recorded and disclosed to
any individuals conceived as a result of their donation on a national voluntary
register or separate register if such registers are established in each state
and territory.
Recommendation 12
7.76 The committee recommends that any voluntary
registers incorporate a DNA databank, to enable donors and donor conceived
individuals to have their details placed on the register for possible matching,
in circumstances where records relating to their identities have been
destroyed.
Recommendation 13
7.77 The committee recommends that the states and
territories jointly fund a campaign to widely publicise the establishment of
either a national voluntary register or separate voluntary registers in each
state and territory.
Recommendation 14
7.78 The committee recommends that the Australian
Government review, within a period of two years after this report, the current
regulatory framework for overseeing compliance by clinics and medical
practitioners with the National Health and Medical Research Council Guidelines
on the use of assisted reproductive technology in clinical practice and
research, with a focus on:
- whether the regulatory framework is adequate to ensure
compliance with the guidelines;
- whether sanctions applied to clinics for failure to comply
with their obligations under the guidelines are sufficient; and
- whether a more comprehensive regulatory framework is required.
Recommendation 15
7.79 If, following the review as set out in
Recommendation 14, it is considered that the current regulatory framework for
clinics and medical practitioners undertaking assisted reproductive technology
procedures is not sufficient, the committee recommends that the Australian
Government, through the Council of Australian Governments and the Standing
Committee of Attorneys General, work with the state and territory governments
to develop a more comprehensive regulatory framework.
Recommendation 16
7.80 Regardless of the outcome of the review described
in Recommendations 14 and 15, the committee recommends that the Australian
Government, in consultation with the Fertility Society of Australia, create a
review mechanism (for example, an Ombudsman-type mechanism or health complaint
commission), that can be accessed by donor conceived individuals and parties
undergoing assisted reproductive technology procedures, to investigate and
address complaints against clinics, including when they fail to comply with
their obligations under the National Health and Medical Research Council
Guidelines or relevant legislation and regulation.
Recommendation 17
7.81 The committee recommends that, except in
circumstances where the parties have a particular ethnic background and it is
difficult to obtain gametes or embryos from a person with the same ethnic
background (or in any other similar circumstances), the importation of gametes
and embryos from overseas donors should be banned in Australia.
Recommendation 18
7.82 If a ban on the importation of gametes and
embryos from overseas is not possible, the committee recommends that any
gametes and embryos imported into Australia from overseas donors undergo the
same requirements and procedures for use in donor conception as gametes and
embryos donated in Australia, including screening and counselling requirements.
Recommendation 19
7.83 The committee recommends that the Australian
Government undertake a review of the National Health and Medical Research
Council Guidelines to specifically address the rights of access to information
of donor conceived individuals conceived with the use of gametes and embryos
imported from overseas.
Recommendation 20
7.84 The committee recommends that the Australian
Government and state and territory governments work together, including through
the Council of Australian Governments and other appropriate national forums, to
agree to a nationally consistent and permanent long-term solution to the
management of records relating to donor conception, to ensure that records
which identify donors, donor recipients, and donor conceived offspring, are
appropriately preserved.
Recommendation 21
7.85 Until such time as Recommendation 20 is
implemented, the committee recommends that a temporary moratorium be placed on
the destruction of all records held by government agencies, doctors, clinics,
and assisted reproductive technology providers that identify donor conception
treatment procedures undertaken by donors and donor recipients.
Recommendation 22
7.86 The committee recommends that the prohibition on
payments for donations of sperm, oocytes or embryos in Australia should be
maintained.
Recommendation 23
7.87 The committee recommends that donors should
continue to be able to be reimbursed for 'reasonable expenses' incurred in
relation to their donation.
Recommendation 24
7.88 The committee recommends that the Australian
Government, in consultation with state and territory governments and the
Fertility Society of Australia, develop more detailed guidelines on what
constitutes 'reasonable expenses' for which donors can be reimbursed.
Recommendation 25
7.89 In relation to counselling, the committee
recommends that:
- counselling should be mandatory for donors and donor
recipients prior to undergoing a donor conception procedure;
- donors and donor recipients should be able to elect to receive
counselling on the donor conception process and its consequences from a
counsellor independent of the fertility clinic in which they are undertaking
treatment;
- parents of donor conceived individuals should have access to counselling
following the birth of their child, to equip them to be able to tell their
child about their conception and to support their child in dealing with any
self-identity issues that may arise; and
- donor conceived individuals should have access to counselling
as they mature and, in particular, when making contact for the first time with
their donor or half-siblings. Such counselling should be voluntary, except
where the donor conceived person is aged under 18 and is making contact for the
first time with their donor or half-siblings, in which case counselling should
be mandatory.
Recommendation 26
7.90 The committee recommends that state and territory
governments, in consultation with the Fertility Society of Australia, should
give consideration to funding the provision of counselling for donors, donor
recipients and donor conceived individuals following the birth of donor
conceived individuals.
Recommendation 27
7.91 The committee recommends that state and territory
governments, in consultation with the Fertility Society of Australia, should
develop guidelines or requirements to ensure that counsellors providing
counselling to donors, donor recipients or donor conceived individuals have an
appropriate understanding of the issues involved with donor conception.
Recommendation 28
7.92 The committee recommends that state and territory
governments should commission research to ascertain the numbers of individuals
born through donor conception in their respective jurisdictions and that, once
more accurate data is obtained, further research should be conducted in
relation to the risk of consanguine relationships among those people.
Recommendation 29
7.93 Noting the disparity in evidence received
throughout the inquiry as to the appropriate limit for the number of families
that donors should be able to assist, the committee recommends that each donor
should only be able to assist up to a maximum of four families (in addition to
their own) in Australia. Although the preference is that each donor only
assists one family (in addition to their own), if more than one family is to be
assisted, the committee recommends that the relevant clinic must consider the
following factors:
- the number of genetic relatives that the persons conceived
would have as a result of the treatment;
- the consent of the donor with respect to the number of
families to be created;
- whether the donor has already donated gametes at another
clinic; and
- the risk of a person conceived with donor gametes
inadvertently having a sexual relationship with a close genetic relative (with
particular reference to the population and ethnic group in which the donation
will be used).
Recommendation 30
7.94 The committee recommends that the issue of limits
on donations should be reviewed by the states and territories, in consultation
with the Fertility Society of Australia, once further evidence becomes
available about the importance of forming a strong sense of self-identity for
donor conceived people and the risks of consanguine relationships.
Recommendation 31
7.95 The committee recommends that clinics and medical
services should amend the consent forms which are signed by donors, to ensure
that consent is given to the sharing of information with other clinics and
medical services in the same jurisdiction and in other jurisdictions in
Australia.
Recommendation 32
7.96 The committee recommends that, to the extent that
the states and territories have not already done so, birth certificates of
donor conceived children should be notated so that when they apply for a birth
certificate over the age of 18 years, they can be provided with additional
information about their donor conception circumstances if they choose.
Navigation: Previous Page | Contents | Next Page