IT is up to the states and territories to legislate so that Australians conceived through sperm or egg donations can identify their donors, the federal government says.
The government has backed a Senate committee’s call for donor information to be made available but says there is no constitutional power for the Commonwealth to legislate comprehensively in the area.
Last year in February a Senate committee handed down 32 recommendations, chief among them a proposal to introduce a national registry to contain donor information.
The recommendation, if implemented, would allow donor-conceived people to find out who their donor is once they turn 18 years old.
It also recommended donors not be able to identify their offspring unless the children gave their consent and siblings to have to give their approval to be identified to their half-brothers or sisters. Read full article.
