Surrogacy Act 2022

Each party and any birth parent of the child who is not a party to the surrogacy arrangement must submit to an interview by a counsellor for the purpose of a report for the Local Court.

The interviews must take place after the birth of a child under the surrogacy arrangement but before any application is made for a parentage order.

The counsellor must prepare a report on the interviews that states the following matters:

the qualifications of the counsellor;

that the counsellor is independent of any business providing fertility services;

the names of the persons who were counselled;

the dates of the counselling;

the counsellor's opinion on the best interests of the child born under the surrogacy arrangement and the grounds for that opinion.

The counsellor's report may include the counsellor's opinion on the following matters:

each person's understanding of the social and psychological implications of a parentage order on themselves and the child;

each person's level of acceptance that openness and honesty about the child's birth parentage is in the best interests of the child;

the arrangements that the intended parent or intended parents propose for the care and nurture of the child;

any other matter relevant to the wellbeing of the child.

The counsellor, under this section, must not have provided any previous counselling to the parties.

A copy of the report must be given to each person interviewed before an application is made for a parentage order.