Page 3505 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 31 October 2023
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Parentage (Surrogacy) Amendment Bill 2023
Ms Cheyne, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.
Title read by Clerk.
MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra—Assistant Minister for Economic Development, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Business and Better Regulation, Minister for Human Rights and Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (11.04): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
I am pleased to present the Parentage (Surrogacy) Amendment Bill 2023. This is a significant reform. It is one which modernises surrogacy law in the ACT by removing discriminatory barriers, providing clearer structure for arrangements which better protects human rights for all parties involved, better considers the rights of a child, and results in greater consistency with states and territories. The bill amends the Parentage Act 2004 to reduce barriers for altruistic surrogacy in the ACT and to establish a structured framework for surrogacy arrangements.
Surrogacy is an arrangement where a person agrees to carry and give birth to a child on behalf of another person or couple. Entering into a surrogacy arrangement offers people an opportunity to create a family and have a child and is particularly important to those who, for many reasons, are unable to conceive and carry a child themselves.
The journey leading to a surrogacy arrangement, and the process itself, can be very complex, emotional and personal. People who become altruistic surrogates provide a significant gift and can often have a personal connection to the intended parents—for example, they may be a family member or close friend.
The ACT was a member of the Working Group on Surrogacy established by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General in November 2019. The Working Group on Surrogacy was established to advise SCAG on opportunities for attaining greater national consistency in legal and policy frameworks, regulating surrogacy in Australia and to reduce barriers to altruistic surrogacy. Through engagement with the working group, the ACT government identified considerable opportunities to achieve greater alignment with other states and territories, and to ensure that the rights of children, intended parents and surrogates are more adequately protected. Stakeholders provided further useful feedback and issues for consideration, and I sincerely thank them for their engagement and expert assistance.
The bill will improve access to altruistic surrogacy arrangements in the ACT across a range of key areas. It will also provide more certainty for parties entering into these arrangements and strengthen the protections of the human rights for all parties involved. The bill will update the language in the Parentage Act 2004 to refer to “intended parents” rather than “substitute parents” as well as “substitute parent agreement” to “surrogacy arrangement.” This reflects modern understandings of the diversity of ways that families are formed.
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