Parenting on the agenda

The Greens will press the NSW Government on same-sex IVF and adoption rights in Parliament today, still waiting to hear their response to last month’s Victorian Law Reform Commission report.

“The report acknowledged that having single, lesbian or gay parents does not pose any risk to the well-being of children,” NSW Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon said.

The findings were further supported last week with the HREOC report that urged state governments to recognise the step-parent in a same-sex relationship, referred to as ‘known adoption’.

Rhiannon’s call echoes a similar motion by federal Greens Senator Kerry Nettle calling on the federal government to work with the states to ensure national consistency in assisted parenting laws regardless of sexuality. Both Labor and the coalition dismissed Nettle’s motion as a state issue.

A spokeswoman for NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said the surrogacy issue would be debated by the state attorneys-general at the end of July. She said the office could not comment on the Greens proposals until they saw a specific Bill.

Hatzistergos and the NSW Health Minister Kevin Greene have agreed to meet with the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby to discuss the case for reform.

“NSW is falling behind on this issue,” Rhiannon said. “It’s important that the attorneys-general discuss it, but public pressure needs to be on.”