Australia: A Case Study

The presenters introduced Australia's political system and national healthcare structure in order to provide a foundational understanding of the framework in which the country has undertaken its recent significant advances in regulating human genetic technologies. These developments include: the establishment of a Human Genetics Advisory Committee, reform of privacy and anti-discrimination laws, and—most recently—moves by the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA) to regulate direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing.  

At present, public and political attention is focused on the validity of gene patents—including a Bill currently before Parliament, a case pending before the Federal Court and a slew of independent reports to which the government is yet to respond.  Integral to these reforms are two major inquiries undertaken by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC)—an inquiry on the protection of human genetic information (which reported in 2003) and a 2004 inquiry into gene patents and human health. In addition to describing this significant ALRC undertaking, the presenters also described its previous influential interventions to provide a thorough grounding in the Austrialian approach to regulating new human biotechnologies.

For more information, please read the detailed presentation report in the Presentation Notes section of the session page.