Donor conception records and the law

Home - Donor Conception Register Resource Library

South Australia is the first government agency in Australia to offer a publicly accessible online Donor Conception Register (DCR), and the second to provide donor-conceived people with the right to access information about their genetic heritage retrospectively.

The Government of South Australia formally proclaimed the changed Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 1988 and the Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) Regulations 2024 on 28 November 2024. These changed laws, which regulate (govern) what information is held on the DCR and who may access this information, became operational on 26 February 2025.

These laws reflect a positive change in community views, which acknowledge:

that knowledge of our own genetic heritage and where we come from is a human right
and actively support the health and wellbeing of donor-conceived people.

Historical records

SA Health has worked with South Australian Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) clinics as well as former ART service providers previously operating in our state, to include historical donor conception information (where retrospectively available and verified) into the DCR.

Unfortunately, due to the culture of secrecy and donor anonymity dating back several decades, gaps do exist in historical records, where the information is either not available, or the information cannot be officially verified.

If you are a donor-conceived person or a donor wanting to access information about a donor conception treatment prior to September 2004, information may be missing because:

records may have been censored or destroyed due to the previous guarantee of donor anonymity and historic record-keeping practices
up until 2010, ART clinics were required to keep information about a donor in a different location to the treatment record, resulting in incomplete records
over the years clinics have closed down, changed ownership or relocated.

DCR administrators can add missing historical information to the DCR if it becomes available and is able to be verified.

A DCR user may request a search of historical records and documents to be undertaken. This can be a challenging process as each search will vary depending on the availability and quality of the information and whether investigation with third parties is required. For this reason, it’s not possible to provide a timeframe for how long a search of these records will take.

Once the information is verified and uploaded into the DCR, a 90-day period is provided to the donor so they are aware their personal information will be made available within the DCR. The donor has the choice to waive this 90-day period, and also has the option to request a further 90-day extension to be granted.

Once verified information is uploaded, donor-conceived sibling connections will become accessible in the DCR. This information may appear immediately or intermittently as details are confirmed, and connections verified. If a donor-conceived sibling has engaged with the DCR and agreed to contact, their contact information will also be available.

If the information requested is not found, the request will remain logged, ready to be reactivated. If further information about a donor becomes available in the future, the initial process to verify identity information will be undertaken, and if successful, and uploaded to the DCR, the 90-day delay period will activate.

To learn more visit:

Retention of records

The changed law requires South Australian ART clinics to now keep donor conception records forever.

ART clinics are also required to include donor conception treatment information in the DCR (both current and future treatments, and historical information relating to previous treatments).

A timeline of donor conception law and record-keeping practice

The laws which govern donor conception in Australia vary, with each state and territory being responsible for administering these health services in their jurisdiction in line with the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Ethical guidelines on the use of assisted reproductive technology in clinical practice and research (i.e. the NHMRC guidelines).

Assisted reproductive (donor conception) treatment laws were introduced in South Australia in the 1980s.

Before 1988 there were no donor conception laws in South Australia and no legal requirement for record-keeping relating to donor conception treatments.
In 1988 South Australia introduced the Reproductive Technology Act 1988. This law prohibited the disclosure of a donor’s identity without the consent of the donor (i.e. allowing anonymous donations). This law was later amended and renamed the Reproductive Technology (Clinical Practices) Act 1988 in 2003, which would then become the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 1988 (the ART Act) in 2010 which was supported by the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Regulations 2010.
In September 2004 the NHMRC removed provisions permitting donor anonymity. The NHMRC guidelines were updated to require an ART clinic to obtain a donor’s consent to reveal their identity to any connected donor-conceived person once they reach 18 years of age.
In 2010, the Reproductive Technology (Code of Ethical Clinical Practice) Regulations 1995 were repealed, removing the requirement for ART clinics to keep identifying information about a donor in a different location to other information about the same donor.
In November 2021 South Australia’s ART Act was updated to require the establishment of a DCR in South Australia. Access was restricted to authorised SA Health and ART clinic staff. These SA Health and ART clinic staff have reviewed donor conception records and information dating back to the 1970’s and where the historical information could be verified, included this information in the DCR.
On 26 February 2025 South Australia’s ART Act was further amended to allow donor-conceived people aged 18 years or older to access identifying information about their parent’s donor(s).

To learn more download History of assisted reproductive treatment in South Australia (PDF 105KB).

Acknowledgement of thanks

The Government of South Australia acknowledges the support of the following groups of people and organisations who worked closely with SA Health to establish the state’s DCR:

SA Health’s DCR Reference Group comprising donors, donor-conceived people, recipient parents, and a fertility counsellor
the wider donor conception community
Donor Conceived Australia (DCA)
ART clinics
the South Australian general public who responded to the consultation to update the legislation and regulations.

To learn more visit, Helpful links and resources.

Interstate donor conception registers

Independent donor conception registers operate in the following Australian states:

Helpful links

South Australian Donor Conception Register (DCR) Resource Library

Access the South Australian Donor Conception Register

Access the DCR

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Last updated: 03 Jul 2025