1. What is the ALRC doing, and where are they up to?

The Australian Law Reform Commission is reviewing Australia’s surrogacy laws to make them more consistent, safer, and more practical across all states and territories.

Current timeline:

2. Key issues covered

The review focuses on:

  • Barriers to domestic surrogacy
  • Inconsistent state laws
  • Reimbursement and compensation of surrogates
  • Legal parentage
  • Citizenship and passports for children born overseas
  • Oversight of the system and harm prevention

3. Will surrogates get paid?

Under the ALRC’s proposals, surrogates would not be paid a “wage”, and Australia would still prohibit commercial surrogacy. The difference is important:

Commercial surrogacy This is where someone is paid to carry a child as a form of income or profit. That remains illegal in Australia.

Compensated (lawful) surrogacy under the proposal This is not about paying someone “for a baby”. It is about making sure the surrogate is not financially or physically disadvantaged by helping someone else build their family.

The ALRC proposes that this type of compensation would be lawful and not treated as commercial surrogacy.

What “compensated” means in practice

The proposal goes well beyond today’s vague “reasonable expenses” model. It would legally require intended parents to cover all reasonable costs and losses, including:

  • Medical and wellbeing costs (pregnancy, birth, recovery)

  • Psychological care and counselling

  • Legal advice and compliance costs

  • Pregnancy-related items, including supplements and dietary needs

  • Travel and accommodation for medical appointments and birth

  • Loss of income, including superannuation contributions

  • Childcare and care of other dependants

  • Domestic help where the surrogate cannot safely carry out normal tasks (e.g. cleaning, meal delivery)

  • Birth support costs

  • Products or services recommended by medical professionals

  • Post-birth medical expenses such as physiotherapy or counselling

  • Health, life and income protection insurance, during pregnancy and for a period after birth, miscarriage or stillbirth

This is designed to make sure the surrogate is not left out of pocket, not pushed into financial risk, and not quietly absorbing the cost of helping someone else.

Hardship payments (new proposal)

In addition to expenses, the ALRC proposes optional hardship payments, which are still treated as lawful and not commercial.

These payments would recognise:

  • The physical discomfort, pain and suffering that commonly comes with pregnancy and birth
  • The physical risk and bodily impact of carrying a pregnancy
  • Extraordinary medical harm or loss, such as serious complications, hysterectomy, stillbirth, or long-term injury

These payments are optional and capped, and are designed to recognise reality, not create a commercial market.

4. How will surrogates be protected?

Protections proposed include:

  • Mandatory medical and psychological screening

  • Independent legal advice

  • Implications counselling

  • Possible criminal history checks

  • Mandatory health, life, and income protection insurance funded by intended parents

  • Payments held in trust accounts to prevent financial disputes

5. What will Medicare cover?

The proposals would:

  • Allow Medicare rebates for fertility treatment used in surrogacy

  • Cover counselling and psychological assessments

  • Cover ongoing counselling during the arrangement

This is not currently available under Medicare.

6. How will intended parents and surrogates find one another?

Proposed changes include:

  • Creation of regulated Surrogacy Support Organisations to help people meet safely

  • Relaxed rules on advertising for surrogates and intended parents

  • Formal eligibility and screening before matching

7. What are the ethics considerations?

The ethical framework centres on:

  • The best interests of the child being paramount

  • Preventing exploitation and coercion

  • Respecting the surrogate’s bodily labour and risk

  • Reducing harm linked to unregulated overseas arrangements

  • Protecting a child’s right to identity

8. Will the intended parents appear on the birth certificate?

In approved arrangements, yes. Which is a change for the current state of affairs.

  • Intended parents would be recognised as legal parents from birth through an administrative process.

  • The child’s birth certificate would include a confidential flag that the child was born via surrogacy.

  • A national surrogacy register would store detailed information for the child’s future access.

9. Will this change the likelihood that a surrogate could keep the baby?

Yes, indirectly the proposals provide protections for intended parents.

Approved arrangements would involve:

  • Pre-conception approvals

  • Court-ready written agreements

  • Administrative recognition of intended parents at birth

This would make disputes less likely, but does not remove a surrogate’s legal right to challenge in exceptional cases. The system aims to reduce uncertainty, not eliminate safeguards.

10. Will it change the requirements for intended parents to care for the baby?

The proposals do give some peace of mind, however they:

  • Do not introduce new parenting standards after birth

  • But do require stronger screening and eligibility checks before approval

  • Emphasise that the child’s best interests must be considered at every stage