Policing Families: A Case Study of Debates on the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 in Victoria, Australia

Abstract

In 2020, the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008, a law which regulates fertility treatments in Victoria, Australia, was amended to remove requirements asking the woman and her partner to have criminal records and child protection order checks before undergoing treatment. Either having such records would lead to the application of “presumption against treatment,” and they were likely to be refused treatment. Victoria was the only jurisdiction with such requirements for about 10 years. This paper aims to examine debates on the establishment, interpretation, application, and removal of this regulation from the perspective of government of the family. Through analysis of the logic that justified its implementation as well as the reviews of the cases that presumption against treatment applied, this paper reveals an ever-expanding network of technologies of power governing the family.