Tasmania’s Surrogacy Act 2012 was designed with the best interests of the child in mind. It permits only altruistic (non-commercial) gestational surrogacy, requires written agreements, judicial oversight through parentage orders, and residency rules for both surrogates and intended parents. Yet even this tightly regulated framework cannot eliminate the inherent risks of physical, psychological and economic harm to women who act as surrogates. The law still treats women’s reproductive capacity as a service that can be contracted out, leaving surrogates exposed to the very exploitation the broader feminist coalition has long warned against.
On 11 July 2025, a coalition of independent Australian feminist organisations — including Women Speak Tasmania, represented through the Affiliation of Australian Women’s Action Alliances (AAWAA) — submitted a joint response to the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) Issues Paper on surrogacy laws. We made our position clear: all forms of surrogacy, commercial or altruistic, constitute sex-based violence against women and girls and must be abolished nationwide. Regulation has failed; only prohibition upholds women’s human rights and prevents commodification of the female body.
What the United Nations Says
Our submission was strengthened by the landmark report released by the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, on 14 July 2025 (A/80/158). Titled “The different manifestations of violence against women and girls in the context of surrogacy”, the report documents how surrogacy reinforces sexist stereotypes, commodifies women’s bodies, and produces multiple forms of violence — medical, economic, psychological and reproductive. It highlights the global rise in cross-border arrangements, the targeting of economically vulnerable women, the trauma of enforced detachment from the child, and the failure of regulation to prevent abuse. The report explicitly calls for steps toward abolition, including a Nordic-model approach that penalises buyers, agencies and intermediaries while supporting surrogates, and urges negotiation of an international treaty prohibiting the practice.
Australia’s Obligations Under the Palermo Protocol
Australia ratified the Palermo Protocol (the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children) in 2005. The Protocol defines trafficking as the recruitment, transportation or harbouring of persons by means of coercion, deception or abuse of vulnerability for the purpose of exploitation. Many surrogacy arrangements — particularly commercial and cross-border ones — meet these elements: women are often recruited through financial pressure, contracts waive their autonomy, and their reproductive labour is commodified for the benefit of others. The UN report reinforces that such practices breach Australia’s obligations under the Palermo Protocol, CEDAW and other human rights instruments. Tasmania’s law, while domestic and altruistic, sits within this national framework that still permits the practice and does nothing to stop Tasmanians from pursuing overseas commercial surrogacy.
What the Feminist Coalition Is Asking
We frame surrogacy not as a “reproductive choice” but as systemic exploitation that cannot be fixed by better rules. Women — especially those who serve as surrogates — are the primary stakeholders bearing the medical risks, emotional trauma and economic vulnerability. The coalition’s July 2025 submission and subsequent input to the ALRC insist that:
- Women must be recognised as central stakeholders in law reform.
- The best interests of the child cannot be separated from the rights and dignity of women.
- Only a universal ban on all forms of surrogacy — with extraterritorial effect, bans on advertising and brokerage, and support services for women — is consistent with Australia’s international obligations.
We reject the false choice between “regulation” and harm; the evidence shows regulation normalises and entrenches exploitation.
The December 2025 Roundtable and What Happened Next
On 18 December 2025, the ALRC convened a roundtable with seven women’s organisations advocating abolition. Women Speak Tasmania was invited but could not attend; AAWAA represented our shared position. Justice Mordecai Bromberg, ALRC President, asked how a recommendation for abolition could fall within the Terms of Reference, suggesting it might lie outside the review’s scope.
AAWAA responded firmly, citing the Australian Law Reform Commission Act 1996 (sections 24(1)(b) and 24(2)(b)). The ALRC is legally required to ensure its recommendations are, as far as practicable, consistent with Australia’s international obligations — including CEDAW, which the UN Special Rapporteur states “precludes the objectification and commodification of women” in the context of surrogacy (A/80/158, para 53). We reminded the ALRC that it has the power — and the duty — to advise the Attorney-General that the current Terms of Reference may be inadequate and that abolition, rather than regulation, is the only reform aligned with human rights.
The roundtable also exposed serious process concerns: the advisory committee includes at least eight members with financial or ideological interests in expanding surrogacy and none representing abolitionist feminist perspectives. We raised questions about conflicts of interest, transparency, and the exclusion of women’s voices. These governance issues risk undermining the review’s legitimacy and impartiality.
This Work Is Ongoing
The ALRC’s final report is due by 29 July 2026. Women Speak Tasmania, together with our coalition partners, will continue to monitor the process, submit further evidence, and hold the Commission accountable to its statutory duty and Australia’s human rights obligations. Tasmania’s Surrogacy Act 2012 was a well-intentioned attempt to protect children, but it cannot stand in isolation from the national reality of exploitation. True protection for women and children requires abolition — not more regulation.
We invite Tasmanian women, supporters and policymakers to read the UN report, our coalition submission and the AAWAA statements. The evidence is clear. The time for prohibition is now.
Women Speak Tasmania stands with AAWAA and the feminist coalition for the abolition of surrogacy. For more information or to get involved, contact us at [email protected].