10th Feb 2022, 4:00 PM – Senate Mitochondrial Donation Law Reform (Maeve’s Law) Bill 2021 - in Committee - Inclusion in annual reports

The majority voted in favour of keeping item 55A of schedule 1 unchanged. In parliamentary jargon, they voted that that item stand as printed.

This was a free vote (also known as a conscience vote), which means our senators voted according to their own beliefs rather than strictly along party lines.

Text of item 55A

55A At the end of section 19

Add:

(4) A report under this section must not include information about any of the following matters unless the NHMRC Licensing Committee considers that the information does not identify, and is not reasonably capable of being used to identify, any person:

(a) approvals under subsection 28P(3) (including applications for such approvals and the outcomes of those applications);

(b) births of children as a result of pregnancies achieved using a mitochondrial donation technique under a clinical trial licence or a clinical practice licence;

(c) adverse events notified to the NHMRC Licensing Committee under paragraph 28S(3)(a).

What does this bill do?

According to the bills digest:

Mitochondrial disease is a group of conditions that can cause serious health issues and, in severe cases, can cause death in childhood. There is no known cure for mitochondrial disease.

Mitochondrial donation is an assisted reproductive technology (ART) that can assist women to avoid passing mitochondrial DNA disease to their biological child. This technology is not a cure for mitochondrial disease but is rather a way to prevent children from inheriting mitochondria that can cause mitochondrial disease.

Under the current legislative framework, mitochondrial donation is illegal under the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2002 (Cth) and the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002 (Cth). The Mitochondrial Donation Law Reform (Maeve’s Law) Bill 2021 (the Bill) amends relevant Acts and associated Regulations to make mitochondrial donation legal for research, training and human reproductive purposes. The overall aim is for women at risk of passing on mitochondrial disease to have reproductive options for biological children without the increased risk of their child having mitochondrial disease.

Primarily the Bill makes changes to ensure that it is no longer an offence to create, for the purposes of reproduction, and under the relevant mitochondrial donation licences, a human embryo that:

• contains the genetic material of more than two people and
• contains heritable changes to the genome.

Read more in the bills digest.