Report of the review of the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 1988

n 2009 the South Australian Government introduced significant changes to the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 1988 (SA) (the Act). Changes to the Act came into effect on 1 September 2010. To ensure that those changes were evaluated over time, the Government included a requirement that the operation and effectiveness of the Act be reviewed after the fifth anniversary of the changes to the Act. The Minister for Health appointed Associate Professor Sonia Allan, an expert in the regulation of assisted reproductive technologies and donor conception, to conduct a review into the Act. The review focused upon the operation and effectiveness of the Act in relation to the regulatory model adopted; the requirement that the welfare of any child born as a consequence of assisted reproductive treatment (ART) is to be treated as being of paramount importance, and accepted as a fundamental principle, in respect of the operation of the Act, as well as in the provision of assisted reproductive treatment; amending eligibility for access to ART services; allowing for the establishment of a donor conception register; and provisions for record keeping and confidentiality