The Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) and Ministerial Councils for Community Services and Health have released a proposal for a national model for the regulation of surrogacy.
The laws on surrogacy vary throughout Australia. The proposal is released for public discussion and a national model will be developed after there has been thorough community consultation.
If adopted as proposed Australian couples who have children via surrogacy would be able to apply to the courts for legal recognition as parents. Some laws currently make it difficult for parents to obtain a passport or a school enrolment for children born through surrogacy.
Under the proposal commercial surrogacy would still remain illegal in Australia but it allows surrogate mothers to be reimbursed for losses and expenses incurred due to pregnancy.
The Joint Working Group invites interested individuals and organisations to make written submissions on the proposal outlined in this paper.
Surrogacy Paper (
PDF file 168KB)
Submissions should be sent to the Executive Officer of the Secretariat of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, NSW Attorney General’s Department, GPO Box 6, Sydney NSW 2001 or can be emailed to natalie_marsic@agd.nsw.gov.au. Inquiries may be directed to the SCAG Secretariat – ph 02 8061 9325
The closing date for submissions is 16 April 2009.
