Deciding on Access to Donor-Conception Information

Abstract

The government response to the LRC inquiry. On 11 October 2012, the Victorian government tabled its interim response to the report of the Victorian Parliament Law Reform Committee ('LRC') Inquiry into Access by Donor-Conceived People to Information about Donors. Unfortunately, after taking six months to respond, a final decision regarding whether access to information will be granted to all donor-conceived people in Victoria was not forthcoming. The LRC report was based on a two-year, two-part inquiry, and contained unanimous support by Committee members for information release (subject to contact veto and intermediary support service provisions). However, the government has called for a further six months of research to 'properly consider and assess the views of the community [and] in particular the views of donors'. The Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority ('VARTA') will conduct the research.