National Regulatory Scheme for Genetically Modified Organisms
The nationally consistent legislative scheme for gene technology is comprised of the Commonwealth Gene Technology Act 2000 and Gene Technology Regulations 2001, and corresponding State and Territory legislation.
The legislation was developed in consultation with all Australian jurisdictions and the scheme is supported by the inter-governmental Gene Technology Agreement 2001 between the Australian Government and each State and Territory.
The Commonwealth Gene Technology legislation took effect on 21 June 2001 and consists of the following:
2011 Independent Review of the Gene Technology Act 2000
On 23 December 2011, the Gene Technology Ministerial Council* (GTMC) publicly released a report outlining the findings of its latest Review of the Gene Technology Act 2000.
The Terms of Reference for the 2011 Independent Review and a call for public submissions were published on the GTMC website on 24 May 2011.
* Note that the GTMC is now known as the Legislative and Governance Forum on Gene Technology
Regulator's Review of the Gene Technology Regulations 2011
Following a review of the Regulations by the Gene Technology Regulator initiated in 2008, the Gene Technology Amendment Regulations 2011 (the Amendment Regulations) were made on 2 June 2011. The Amendment Regulations commenced on 1 September 2011.