ABSTRACT
The regulation of assisted reproductive technology (ART) and surrogacy in Australia has a very complicated history. There is no single piece of federal law that regulates these fi elds but, rather, a mixture of federal laws, federal guidelines and state laws illustrating a variety of approaches to policy in this area. (See also Chapter 3.1 of this book.)
Federal ethical guidelines on ART derive their enforceability from their link to accreditation requirements and differ in small but signifi cant ways from the statutory provisions developed in four of the eight Australian states and territories: Victoria, Western Australia (WA), South Australia (SA) and New South Wales (NSW). All four of these states have comprehensive legislation on ART. The net effect of this multi-jurisdictional approach is a patchwork of ART law, policy and practice across Australia. Furthermore, over the past fi ve years, some of these state laws have been the subject of signifi cant amendment and alteration.
