Essentially yours: the protection of human genetic information in Australia

Abstract

ALRC Report 96 (tabled May 2003)  was the product of a two-year inquiry by the ALRC and the Australian Health Ethics Committee (AHEC) of the NHMRC, involving extensive research and widespread public consultation.The inquiry was the most comprehensive ever undertaken into these issues in Australia or overseas. The report covers an extensive range of activities in which genetic information plays—or soon will play—an important role. The two-volume, 1200 page report makes 144 recommendations about how Australia should deal with the ethical, legal and social implications of the New Genetics. This Report reflects the law as at 14 March 2003