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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)
Contents Vol 49(4)

Should Australian laws regulating embryo research be reformed? A call for commonwealth review

Narcyz Ghinea https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1457-7252 A * , Christopher Rudge https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6629-8485 B , Dianne Nicol https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6553-2839 C and Tamra Lysaght https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7125-4206 A D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Sydney Health Ethics, Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2008, Australia.

B Sydney Health Law, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2008, Australia.

C Centre for Law and Genetics, School of Law, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas 7005, Australia.

D Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

* Correspondence to: narcyz.ghinea@sydney.edu.au

Australian Health Review 49, AH25079 https://doi.org/10.1071/AH25079
Submitted: 15 April 2025  Accepted: 8 June 2025  Published: 1 July 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of AHHA. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Human embryo research can provide important scientific insights to help humanity. But it also poses ethical questions that remain contested. Since 2002, Australian law has limited human embryo research under strict licensing conditions, but there has been no formal review in almost 15 years. The development of stem cell-based embryo models that closely resemble human embryos, and improved culturing techniques that allow human embryos to be grown to potentially beyond 14 days, have pushed the limits of current legislation. We argue that a comprehensive review is needed to address recent scientific advances and to better account for public sentiment.

Keywords: blastoid, developmental research, embryo, embryo research, fertilisation, 14-day rule, gastruloid, law reform, primitive streak, public attitudes, research ethics, stem cells.

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