Assisted Reproductive Technology national consultation

Key messages

This consultation is to better understand people's lived experiences of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) services in Australia.
Many different people across Australia have experience with ART. We want to hear from a diverse range of people.
We are running a confidential, online survey to hear about your experiences.
Your contribution will help shape how ART services are run in the future.

About the consultation

We want to hear from people who have experience with fertility services in Australia. By this, we mean Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), and we include donor-conceived people. Your feedback will help us make these services better.

Health Ministers have agreed to recommendations made by an independent review. We want to understand what works well and what we need to know to help us make these changes. And we know that an important way for us to understand is to ask people who have direct experience of ART.

We are seeking feedback from people who:

have used ART/IVF services (including egg freezing) anywhere in Australia – you may live in a rural, regional or metropolitan area
have donated genetic material such as sperm, eggs or embryos
have supported someone who has used ART/IVF services
are a donor-conceived person.

It does not matter whether you used a public or private provider.

You do not need to be based in Victoria to participate – you can be anywhere in Australia. The Victorian Department of Health is leading this work on behalf of all Australian Health Ministers.

How to participate in the consultation

We are running a confidential, online survey to hear about your experiences.

The survey will take about 30 minutes and is voluntary and anonymous. You must be 18 years of age or older to participate.

The survey will close on 31 March 2026.

Complete the survey

We are also running a limited number of focus groups in April 2026, to get a deeper understanding of people's experiences. The expression of interest to participate in these focus groups closed at 11:59pm 6 March 2026.

If now is not the right time for you, this survey is not your only chance to share your views on fertility services. There will be more opportunities in the future for people to give feedback as reforms are progressed.

More information about the survey

- Participation is voluntary: it's completely your choice, and saying no won't affect you in any way.
- Individual responses will not be shared with ART providers or any other services.
- ART services will not know if you do the survey or not, and your access to any government services will not be affected if you participate or not.
- If you start the survey and change your mind, you can exit the survey to end your participation. Your progress will be saved, but your responses will only be sent to us when you reach the end and press the submit button. After you press submit, you can’t change your answers. You can save a copy of your answers before you press the submit button.
- The information you share in the survey will be combined with other people's responses. We will group the responses into "themes" to summarise the information.
- We may include short examples or stories (vignettes) in the report to illustrate people's experiences. These short examples will reflect the experiences of multiple participants to highlight common themes. To protect your privacy, short examples won’t include any personal details or information that could identify you.
- This information will be included in a report for the State, Territory, and Commonwealth governments.
- The report may also be published online.
- A plain language summary will be shared later this year with people who express interest in receiving it through this survey.
- Your information is only being collected for this project. It will not be used or disclosed for any other purpose.
- The survey platform (Qualtrics) is based in the United States of America and in rare cases, it may be subject to laws that could allow access to your information by the United States authorities. Your information will be stored on Qualtrics' servers in Australia and deleted at the end of the project.
- Your responses are anonymous.
- There are a number of questions where you can write your answers. Please do not write identifiable information about yourself or any other person into these free text spaces, so your responses can remain anonymous. If you are including information about another person too, for example, about your partner’s experience, please make sure you get their consent first to share their information.
- Your name will not be included in any reports and will not be connected to survey results.
- Your information will not be shared with ART/IVF providers.
- Your information will be stored on the department’s secure password protected network drive in line with the department’s policies and relevant privacy laws. Access will be restricted to the project team.
The survey will ask whether you would like to participate in an optional focus group. To participate in a focus group, you will need to provide contact details in a separate Expression of Interest (EOI) online form, which will be kept separate from your survey answers.
Please be aware that expressing an interest in the focus group does not guarantee an invitation to participate, as numbers will be limited.
Some questions might feel personal or bring up strong feelings. You may want to think about what would help with this before you start the survey. For example, you might want to do the survey in a comfortable place and talk to someone you trust after you finish.
We understand that reflecting on fertility journeys can be emotional. We encourage you to plan ahead and seek support if needed.
If you are in need of urgent medical or psychological assistance, call 000.
If you are not experiencing an emergency but have concerns about your mental or emotional wellbeing, speak to your general practitioner (GP).
Support is also available from:
- Lifeline Tel. 13 11 14 (24/7) – crisis support and suicide prevention services
- SANE Tel. 1800 187 263 (10am–10pm weekdays) – for people affected by complex mental health issues
- Beyond Blue Tel. 1300 224 636 (24/7) – for depression, anxiety and related concerns
- 1800RESPECT Tel. 1800 737 732 (24/7) – domestic, family and sexual violence counselling
- QLife Tel. 1800 184 527 (3pm–9pm) – LGBTIQ+ peer support and referral
- YourIVFSuccess – helpful resources from IVF consumer organisations and authorities

If you have questions

See the Department of Health's privacy policy for more information on the department's privacy practices.

If you have any questions, email the project team at ARTengagement@health.vic.gov.au.

This project has been approved by the Bellberry Human Research Ethics Committee (Registration ID 2025-12-2129) and complies with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2025. If you have a complaint or would like to speak to someone who is not from the project team about the project, you can email Bellberry Research Ethics office at Bellberry@bellberry.com.au.

Parts of the consultation that involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants have been developed in partnership with the Victorian Department of Health's Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Division.

Updated 12 March 2026