ACT donor register

The ACT Government has created an ACT donor register. The register started on 28 March 2025.

The register will make it easier for people conceived using assisted reproductive technology (ART) to find out about:

• their donor/s
• relevant health history
• genetic background
• half-siblings.

ACT Government will run and maintain the register.

The donor register has 2 parts:

• mandatory register
• voluntary register.

Mandatory register

ART providers will supply mandatory information to the register.

This applies for ART treatment provided on or after 28 March 2025.

Within 2 months of becoming aware that a child has been born alive as a result of that treatment, ART providers will supply information about the:

• donor
• donor-conceived child
• person who gave birth to the child.

ACT Health will record this information in the donor register. See information that will be on the register.

Voluntary register

People conceived as a result of ART treatment provided before 28 March 2025, and their donors, can give information voluntarily to the register.

It is not mandatory.

Who can use the register

The register is not public.

It can only be used by:

• donor conceived people
• parents of a donor conceived person
• donors.

Donor conceived people will be able to use the register from the age of 16.

A donor conceived person may access the register at a younger age if a qualified counsellor says they are:

• sufficiently mature to understand and comply with their donor’s contact preferences (including ‘no contact’)
• understand and accept that the donor has no parental rights or responsibilities for them.

Parents will be able to use the register after the birth of their donor conceived child, if that child was conceived using gametes donated on or after 28 March 2025.

Donors will be able to use the register.

You will only be able to access the donor register after 28 March 2025.

Information that will be on the register

Donor conceived people and their parents who apply to the register may be able to see a donor’s:

• full name
• date and place of birth
• home address
• ethnicity and physical attributes
• relevant health history
• consent for use of their gametes.

The register may also show:

• the sex and year of birth of other donor-conceived offspring
• the name of any other ART providers that obtained a gamete from the same donor
• the donor code, if voluntarily given
• the contact preferences of the donor
• any other information voluntarily given.

Donors who apply to the register may be able to see de-identified information about any donor-conceived offspring. This includes:

• sex
• year of birth
• the contact preferences of the donor conceived person
• any other information voluntarily given (including identifying information).

Donors can put contact preferences on the donor register, including ‘no contact’.

Accessible information pathway

You can also get information by using the accessible information pathway.

The accessible information pathway allows a mature donor conceived person, or a parent of a donor conceived child to get certain non-identifying information about a donor directly through their ART provider. The ART provider must help with information requests.

A donor may also agree to release some identifying information. If they consent, you can get that information from your ART provider.

Why a donor register is important

The donor register has been created to let donor conceived people:

• understand their relevant health and genetic background
• manage the risk of accidentally forming intimate relationships with genetic siblings.

See Changes to assisted reproductive technology.

You can also go to the ACT Legislation Register to read the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2024.

Using the donor register

If you want to submit information for the register or want to access it, you will be asked for personal information about you and your donor/s, which is stored confidentially.

ACT Government will verify the information with the ART provider, with your consent.

The donor register is not accessible to the public.

If you wish to access the ACT donor register, email artdonorregister@act.gov.au.