It is a pleasure to rise on the Health Legislation Amendment (Regulatory Reform) Bill 2024. They say when you have your health you have everything, and I think in this place it is important that we continue to reform and improve our legislation in the health space to ensure that all Victorians continue to have world-class health care and to also have safeguards around that. We are committed in this space to the health and wellbeing of every Victorian. We not only have certainly taken significant steps over time to ensure that our health regulations are strong and modern but in this place will continue to reform to make sure that we keep pace and we have modern legislation, particularly when we have such technology advancements and especially in that space and practice of assisted reproductive treatment, which this bill does speak a lot to. These reforms, which were announced last year, are all about keeping Victorians safe and ensuring we have that modern health regulator in this state who looks out for them.

I want to talk a little bit about what this bill means in terms of the finer details but then also share a little bit of a personal story. The vision is pretty clear in that we want to have a state where everyone has health care and is free from avoidable disease and injuries, and it really just allows every individual to live a healthy lifestyle. This bill, which builds on our reforms, is that crucial step. It is strengthening our health regulations, and we aim to create a safer and more consistent healthcare system for all. This is not just about legal adjustments that we do in this place but about those safeguards which I have referred to. It does respond to that quickly changing landscape that is in our healthcare system, and it is also there to meet community expectations. Our technology and medical advancements and practices have evolved so much, and so too our regulations, that we want to assure that regardless of your age or circumstances you can trust that healthcare system to be robust, fair and up to date.

I probably did not appreciate, being a newish member to this place, that really diverse range of responsibilities that the Department of Health have, including in relation to child safety, communicable diseases, medicines, poisons, legionella risk management, pest control – which I did not appreciate – radiation safety, food safety, private hospitals and day procedure centres, non-emergency patient transport, first aid service providers, tobacco and e-cigarettes and safe drinking water. It is quite a list. Established earlier this year, the health regulator now has most of the department’s regulatory function, and it consolidates and brings all of it in-house and enables that department to assume more consistency and a really consistent approach. It just centralises the expertise within the department, and that in turn allows us to respond more rapidly and allocate the appropriate resources.

This is about work to deliver safer, fairer and more accessible services for those who are seeking and maybe receiving assisted reproductive treatment, for donor-conceived people and their future and for donors and surrogates. It is an honour to speak in this place on various issues, but sometimes the bills and acts that come to this place are a little bit more personal. We hear in this place a lot of people bringing their own personal experiences to share in the debate of bills, and it is an honour to contribute to this bill, because I know that these types of bills do make a real difference to people’s everyday lives. I want to acknowledge those who share their deeply personal experiences of assisted reproductive treatment such as IVF, conception, pregnancy, childbirth and child loss, which does include miscarriages. Sharing your lived experience shapes the language in our community, shapes our discourse, shapes our policymaking and shapes the kind of community we want to be. Ultimately, I hope that that ends in a more respectful and empathetic community.

It is hard to share those personal experiences on topics such as this, because even with how far we have come in speaking about this there is still a lot of stigma and taboo. I have shared in this place before that my husband and I lost a baby at 22 weeks – too small and too little to stay with us. She was born sleeping 16 years ago now, and there is not a day where I do not think about what she would look like and what she would be like if she were still with us. I openly share this story, and I know that by sharing my story that can assist others. I do have a lot of people who stop me in the electorate and say thank you for sharing my story. They will quietly say ‘I have a very similar story’ and that they appreciate that being shared.

It did take a little bit of time to become pregnant with our second child. Although we did not need to use assisted treatment, my heart goes out to families who do. I can appreciate that it is a journey and one that I have heard the Minister for Government Services state is not for the faint-hearted. I think it is probably worth noting that by the time someone does reach out or start accessing that assisted reproductive treatment they have probably gone through a very significant journey before getting to that point. It is a privilege to be in this place and have a chance to amend laws that will make it fairer and make it easier for those who want to grow a family. It is a privilege, as I have said, to share my personal story to help destigmatise that topic. Although no amount of legislation can entirely remove all those challenges from IVF, we must try and make that process fairer. We must make it accessible, available and as compassionate as possible.

For those that do use assisted reproductive treatment these reforms are going to make a real difference. We are going to transfer regulation of assisted reproductive treatment to the health regulator, and that will enhance our compliance with and simplify access to the donor conception register. We recognise the importance of these registers for donor-conceived people and their families, and we are committed to making this a process that is as supportive as possible and as accessible as possible. Those who are being born through assisted reproductive treatments and the rights of donors and their recipients really remain at the centre of our efforts. We will continue to listen to the voices of those with lived experience and we will use that to shape our insights and our policies.

The Victorian government has already conducted and delivered a significant amount of reforms after the recommendations from the Gorton review, and that was really to promote access and remove barriers to assisted reproductive treatment. There are also a few other key milestones that we have delivered as a government. We have delivered a Victorian public fertility service, a nation-leading public egg and sperm bank. We have invested $120 million to support thousands of Victorians looking to start and grow their families. We have had an additional $2 million in this last budget to fund the public egg and sperm bank as well. We will continue to work in this space. We know there is always more to do, and that is what part of this bill is about.

This bill also transfers that responsibility to the new health regulator. It introduces a consistent set of compliance and enforcement tools in line with the Gorton review’s recommendations. This reform is about delivering modern and improved health regulatory outcomes for consumers and for the state as the Allan Labor government strengthens our regulations in Victoria. It is there to protect, and it is there to provide greater consistency and regulation across the health system for Victorians. We have a world-class health system. We have a bill here in front of us today that not only strengthens it but is really putting people at the centre of it. It does mean a safer and stronger health system for all. I thank the minister for all her work in bringing this bill to the house. I commend the bill to the house.