The Family Court of Western Australia has jurisdiction under the Western Australian Surrogacy Act 2008 (“the Act”).
Judges of the court may make parentage orders and other related orders.
A parentage order transfers the parentage of a child from his or her surrogate birth parent/s to the child’s arranged parents. The arranged parents then become the child’s legal parents.
After commencement of the Surrogacy Act 2008 on 1 March 2009, any person wishing to enter into a surrogacy arrangement under the Act must comply with all the procedures set out under the Act and Regulations if they propose to apply to the Family Court of WA for a parentage order.
If a child is conceived through a surrogacy arrangement before the Act came into effect, an application may be made to the Family Court of WA for a parentage order provided the application is brought within 12 months of the commencement of the Surrogacy Act (1 March 2009) and all the requirements set out in the Act have been met.
Officers at the court coordinate the processing of surrogacy applications and answer enquiries from the public.
Forms for applying for a parentage order pursuant to the Surrogacy Act 2008 and for ancillary applications are now available from this website from the links below or by calling the Family Court’s call centre on 08 9224 8222.
The relevant surrogacy legislation administered by the court is:
Family Court of WA
Team Leader, Customer Service, Telephone 08 9224 8353
Legal Aid Western Australia
www.legalaid.wa.gov.au
Western Australia Reproductive Technology Council
www.rtc.org.au