Patient Review Panel telehealth is OK for Victorian surrogacy counselling
Tuesday March 31, 2020

Patient Review Panel telehealth is OK for Victorian surrogacy counselling

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

The Victorian Patient Review Panel (which gives approval for Victorian surrogacy arrangements) has written to infertility counsellors in Victoria saying that they can undertake surrogacy counselling via telehealth. HOORAY!

Previously the PRP has always been insistent that this counselling occur face to face.

I am glad that this commonsense approach has been adopted in light of Government guidelines about COVID-19 and the strong statements from the Federal Government for doctors and allied health (including psychologists) to use telehealth where possible.

The publicly stated position of the Patient Review Panel is:

 

Manner of counselling
While Panel understands that it is not always possible to conduct all counselling in face‑to-face sessions, it has a strong preference that the parties to the arrangement have received at least one face‑to-face session each and one face-to-face group session. Where counselling is not conducted in face-to-face sessions, it should be done via videoconferencing (e.g. Skype) rather than via telephone.
Clinic counsellors should ensure that all parties to the arrangement are provided with, and have read, the counselling report before making an application to the Panel.

I hope that the Panel will now also use video or phone conferencing, such as Zoom, to be consistent with Government health requirements – instead of its insistence in the past of in person hearings.

Request an Appointment
Fill in the form below to find out if you have a claim.
Request an Appointment - Stephen Page
Things to Read, Watch & Listen
US Birthright Citizenship Challenge: What Australian Surrogacy Parents Need to Know

US Birthright Citizenship Challenge: What It Means for Australian Surrogacy Parents

The US Supreme Court has just heard one of the most consequential cases for international surrogacy in decades—and if you’re an Australian intended parent pursuing surrogacy in the United States, this directly affects you. Stephen Page, Director at Page Provan Family & Fertility Lawyers, breaks down what happened at the Supreme Court hearing in March… Read More »US Birthright Citizenship Challenge: What It Means for Australian Surrogacy Parents

WA Surrogacy Law Update: Nobody Knows When It Starts

WA Surrogacy Law Update: Nobody Knows When it Starts

If you’ve been waiting for Western Australia’s new surrogacy and fertility laws to take effect, you’re not alone—and the honest answer right now is: nobody knows exactly when they will. In this short update, Stephen Page, Director at Page Provan Family & Fertility Lawyers, breaks down where things stand with Western Australia’s Assisted Reproductive Technology… Read More »WA Surrogacy Law Update: Nobody Knows When it Starts

LGBTQ+ Surrogacy and Donation in Australia: Pride, Representation & Fertility Law

Pride is in the Air: When Pride Met Purpose

Sometimes a moment lands in a way that feels more than coincidental. For Stephen Page, Director at Page Provan Family and Fertility Lawyers, that happened on a Sunday in March after speaking at the Growing Families Conference in Melbourne. The conference focused on surrogacy and donation, the two pillars of modern family building for many… Read More »Pride is in the Air: When Pride Met Purpose

Family Law Section Law Council of Australia Award
Member of Queensland law society
Family law Practitioners Association
International Academy of Family Lawyers - IAFL
Mediator Standards Board