Victorian Numbered Acts

ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TREATMENT ACT 2008 (NO. 76 OF 2008) - SECT 3

    In this Act—

"artificial insemination" means a procedure of transferring sperm without also transferring an oocyte into the vagina, cervical canal or uterus of a woman;

"assisted reproductive treatment" means medical treatment or a procedure that procures, or attempts to procure, pregnancy in a woman by means other than sexual intercourse or artificial insemination, and includes—

        (a)     in-vitro fertilisation; and

        (b)     gamete intrafallopian transfer; and

        (c)     any related treatment or procedure prescribed by the regulations;

"Authority" means the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority established under Part 10;

"Central Register" means the register kept by the Registrar under section 53;

"child" means a person who is less than 18 years of age;

"child protection order" means any of the following orders made under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 —

        (a)     a custody to Secretary order;

        (b)     a custody to third party order;

        (c)     a guardianship to Secretary order;

"child protection order check" means a check carried out and statement prepared under section 12;

"commissioning parent", for a surrogacy arrangement, means the person or persons who enter into the surrogacy arrangement for a woman to carry a child on behalf of the person or persons;

"criminal records check", in relation to a person, means a statement prepared by a member of the police force that specifies—

        (a)     the member has checked records kept by the police force to determine whether the person has a criminal record; and

        (b)     details of the following—

              (i)     any convictions recorded against the person;

              (ii)     any findings of guilt against the person, with or without conviction;

              (iii)     any charges outstanding against the person;

              (iv)     any other matters the member considers relevant;

"designated officer", in relation to a registered ART provider, means a person appointed, employed or engaged by that provider under Division 3 of Part 8;

"doctor" means a registered medical practitioner under the Health Professions Registration Act 2005 ;

"donor" means a person who has given a consent under section 16 ;

"donor embryo" means an embryo in respect of which consent has been given under section 16;

"donor gametes" means a donor oocyte or donor sperm;
s. 3

"donor oocyte" means an oocyte in respect of which consent has been given under section 16;

"donor sperm" means sperm in respect of which consent has been given under section 16;

"donor treatment procedure" means a treatment procedure in which donor gametes or a donor embryo is used;

"embryo" means a discrete entity that has arisen from either—

        (a)     the first mitotic division when fertilisation of a human oocyte by a human sperm is complete; or

        (b)     any other process that initiates organised development of a biological entity with a human nuclear genome or altered human nuclear genome that has the potential to develop up to, or beyond, the stage at which the primitive streak appears—

and has not yet reached 8 weeks of development since the first mitotic division;

excess ART embryo has the meaning given by the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2008 ;

"exemption" means an exemption under section 37;

"gametes "means sperm or an oocyte;

"identifying information" means information that will or may disclose the identity of a person;

"non-identifying information" means information other than identifying information;

"oocyte" means an ovum from a woman;

"partner", in relation to a person, means—

        (a)     the person's spouse; or

        (b)     a person who lives with the first person as a couple on a genuine domestic basis, irrespective of gender;

"registered ART provider" means a person who is registered under Part 8 as a registered ART provider;

"Registrar" means the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996 ;

"RTAC accreditation" means accreditation granted by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee of the Fertility Society of Australia;

"Secretary" means the Secretary to the Department of Human Services;

"self-insemination" means artificial insemination not carried out by a doctor;

"sperm" includes spermatids;

"store" means—

        (a)     to freeze an oocyte, embryo or sperm; or

        (b)     to otherwise preserve an oocyte, embryo or sperm by a prescribed method;

"surrogacy arrangement" means an arrangement, agreement or understanding, whether formal or informal, under which     a woman agrees with another person to become or try to become pregnant, with the intention—

        (a)     that a child born as a result of the pregnancy is to be treated as the child, not of her, but of another person or persons (whether by adoption, agreement or otherwise); or

        (b)     of transferring custody or guardianship in a child born as a result of the pregnancy to another person or persons; or

        (c)     that the right to care for a child born as result of the pregnancy be permanently surrendered to another person or persons;

"treatment procedure" means—

        (a)     artificial insemination, other than self-insemination; or

        (b)     assisted reproductive treatment;

"Voluntary Register" means the register kept by the Registrar under section 70.