Status of Children Act 1978
LegislationReferenced in 3 bills
Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill 2024
This bill creates Queensland's first laws to regulate the fertility industry and establishes a central register of donor conception information. It was introduced after high-profile failures in 2023, including allegations of wrong donor sperm being used and donors having far more genetic offspring than guidelines allow. The bill requires all fertility clinics to hold a Queensland licence, sets enforceable rules for how gametes and embryos are used, and gives all donor-conceived people the right to know who their biological donor is.
Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Bill 2022
This bill repeals and replaces Queensland's births, deaths and marriages registration law. It removes the requirement for surgery to change a person's recorded sex, allows same-sex parents to both use matching titles on birth certificates, streamlines registry services, and strengthens name change fraud prevention. It also adds new anti-discrimination protections for intersex people.
Meriba Omasker Kaziw Kazipa (Torres Strait Islander Traditional Child Rearing Practice) Bill 2020
This bill creates a legal framework to recognise Torres Strait Islander traditional child rearing practice (Ailan Kastom), under which children are permanently placed with cultural parents within the extended family. It establishes a new Commissioner to decide applications for cultural recognition orders that transfer legal parentage, so that a child's birth certificate and legal identity match their cultural reality. This is the first legislation of its kind in Australia.