Federal Surrogacy Inquiry Finishes Final Hearings

As mentioned in our previous TimeBase article, the Federal Government has commissioned an inquiry into surrogacy, covering both domestic and international surrogacy. This inquiry finished its public hearings on 17 March 2016.

Terms of Reference for the Inquiry

On 2 December 2015, the Attorney General, Senator the Hon George Brandis QC, asked the Committee to inquire into and report on the regulatory and legislative aspects of international and domestic surrogacy arrangements.

In particular, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs will inquire and report into the regulatory and legislative aspects of international and domestic surrogacy arrangements, with a focus on:

1. the role and responsibility of states and territories to regulate surrogacy, both international and domestic, and differences in existing legislative arrangements;
2. medical and welfare aspects for all parties involved, including regulatory requirements for intending parents and the role of health care providers, welfare services and other service providers;
3. issues arising regarding informed consent, exploitation, compensatory payments, rights and protections for all parties involved, including children;
4. relevant Commonwealth laws, policies and practices (including family law, immigration, citizenship, passports, child support and privacy) and improvements that could be made to enable the Commonwealth to respond appropriately to this issue (including consistency between laws where appropriate and desirable) to better protect children and others affected by such arrangements;
5. Australia's international obligations;
6. the adequacy of the information currently available to interested parties to surrogacy arrangements (including the child) on risks, rights and protections;
7. information sharing between the Commonwealth and states and territories; and
8. the laws, policies and practices of other countries that impact upon international surrogacy, particularly those relating to immigration and citizenship.

There were 110 submissions to the public hearings which concluded in Canberra on 18 March 2016.

International Surrogacy: the Practical Implications

In a case recently reported in the media, Farnell v Chanbua [2016] FWCA 17, a dispute between the biological surrogate mother and the ‘adoptive’ mother / biological father, as to the place of residence of a child resulted from an international surrogacy arrangement with Thailand.

This was only one of many cases canvassed by the Committee in submissions including the Baby Gammy Case.

The Surrogacy Committee is expected to report by 30 June 2016.

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Federal Surrogacy Inquiry Homepage

Farnell v Chanbua [2016] FWCA 17