ABSTRACT
The progress of medical science and practice is often so swift that it tends to hijack the original issue; the problem is not always the outcome but how to manage the resultant situation. The HFE Act encourages a 'broadly facilitative' approach; Jackson E Regulating Reproduction: Law, Technology and Autonomy, Oxford, Hart, 2001, at p. 259. The 'central role' granted to professionals is one of the 'key features' of the Act. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which was established by the 1990 Act, have been both widely admired and subject to external criticism, some of which goes with its much contested territory. The HFE Act 1990 was passed in part to allay public fears about 'new' reproductive technologies. The Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee (RTAC) must sanction all IVF services and the providers of these must comply with the RTAC code of practice and NHMRC guidelines absent supervening state legislation.
