This bill is currently before Parliament.
Law, justice & rights
Children born aliveBorn showing life, including after a termination. would be treated as people under Commonwealth lawAustralian federal law made by the national Parliament., including when born after an attempted terminationAn intentional ending of a pregnancy..
Llew O'Brien (The Nationals), who introduced the bill, said every child born aliveBorn showing life, including after a termination. should receive equal care and legal protection. The explanatory memorandum says state figures show some children have been born aliveBorn showing life, including after a termination. after terminations and later died, but it gives no total because state rules and records differ. It also argues that denying care would conflict with Australia's international promises to protect children's lives and health.
Australia already had state-based guidelines and recording practices for babies born aliveBorn showing life, including after a termination. after terminations, but the explanatory memorandum says the differences made national figures difficult to establish and that some infants received palliative careCare focused on comfort rather than cure. and later died. After abortion legislation became a federal political issue in 2024, including Matt Canavan's proposed Senate bill and an election campaign involving anti-abortion advocacy, Llew O'Brien MP introduced this private member's bill on 17 August 2026 to require equal care, de-identified reporting and professional accountability while protecting mothers from prosecution.
The evidence pack records no criticism of the bill. It contains the sponsor's short speech, after which the allotted debate time expired, and Ms Penfold seconded the bill without speaking on its substance.
Llew O'Brien MP introduced this bill. Supportive speeches so far have come from Nationals.
Did it become law?
Not yet
Final passage
No final vote yet
The bill has not yet completed passage through Parliament.
Days since introduction
50 days
Updated 06 Oct 2026.
Meaning
Children born aliveBorn showing life, including after a termination. would be treated as people under Commonwealth lawAustralian federal law made by the national Parliament., including when born after an attempted terminationAn intentional ending of a pregnancy..
Children born aliveBorn showing life, including after a termination. after a terminationAn intentional ending of a pregnancy. would receive the same standard of care as other children. Care could be emergency treatment or comfort care.
Health practitioners who breach a duty to care for a child born aliveBorn showing life, including after a termination. could face a penalty of 2,000 penalty units.
Health practitioners present at these births would have five business days to report them to the Australian Government department responsible for the law.
Children and mothers could not be named in these reports. Reports would record the birth, care provided and whether the child survived.
Mothers could not be prosecuted under the bill's offences for failing to provide care or report a birth.
Health practitioners who fail to make a required report could face a penalty of 100 penalty units.
8 Children born alive are persons To avoid doubt, for the purposes of the law of the Commonwealth, a child born alive is a person.Human Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) introduced text
9 Duty of health practitioners to provide medical care or treatment to children born alive as a result of terminations (1) The duty owed by a health practitioner to provide medical care or treatment to a child born alive as a result of a termination is no different than the duty (including a duty under the law of a State or Territory or the general law) owed to provide medical care or treatment to a child born alive other than as a result of a termination. Health practitioner registration board must deal with contraventions of duty to provide medical care or treatment to children born aliveHuman Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) introduced text
10 Offence of contravening duty to provide medical care or treatment to children born alive A person commits an offence if: (a) the person is a health practitioner; and (b) a child is born alive; and (c) the health practitioner owes a duty to provide medical care or treatment to the child; and (d) the health practitioner engages in conduct; and (e) the health practitioner’s conduct contravenes that duty. Note: This section applies whether or not the live birth results from a termination. Penalty: 2,000 penalty units.Human Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) introduced text
11 Duty of health practitioners to report births of children born alive as a result of terminations Purpose of this section (1) The purpose of this section is to enable the production of statistics relating to children born alive as a result of terminations. (2) If a child is born alive as a result of a termination, a health practitioner who: (a) caused the termination; or (b) is present at the birth; must ensure that the birth is reported to the Department in accordance with subsection (3) within 5 business days.Human Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) introduced text
(3) The report must: (a) be in writing; and (b) include the following information: (i) the date and place of birth; (ii) the gestational age of the child at birth; (iii) details of the medical care and treatment provided to the child after birth; (iv) whether the child survived; and (c) not identify the child or the child’s mother.Human Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) introduced text
12 Mother of child born alive not liable to prosecution (a) section 10 or 11 of this Act; nor (b) Division 11 of the Criminal Code, to the extent it relates to section 10 or 11 of this Act; make the mother of a child born alive liable to be prosecuted for an offence in respect of that child.Human Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) introduced text
(4) A person commits an offence if: (a) the person is a health practitioner; and (b) a child is born alive as a result of a termination; and (c) the health practitioner has a duty to ensure that the birth is reported to the Department under subsection (2); and (d) the health practitioner engages in conduct; and (e) the health practitioner’s conduct contravenes that duty. Penalty: 100 penalty units.Human Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) introduced text
Context
Australia already had state-based guidelines and recording practices for babies born aliveBorn showing life, including after a termination. after terminations, but the explanatory memorandum says the differences made national figures difficult to establish and that some infants received palliative careCare focused on comfort rather than cure. and later died. After abortion legislation became a federal political issue in 2024, including Matt Canavan's proposed Senate bill and an election campaign involving anti-abortion advocacy, Llew O'Brien MP introduced this private member's bill on 17 August 2026 to require equal care, de-identified reporting and professional accountability while protecting mothers from prosecution.
Anti-abortion flyers linked the NT election to federal legislation
Pro-Life Victoria distributed flyers urging voters to put Labor last after commitments to the Australian Christian Lobby supporting federal anti-abortion legislation.
ABC News ↗National debate examined claims about babies born aliveBorn showing life, including after a termination. after abortions
The Guardian reported on conservative claims that babies were sometimes born aliveBorn showing life, including after a termination. after abortions and examined the evidence behind the issue.
The Guardian ↗Matt Canavan kept a federal born-alive bill in the Senate
Senator Matt Canavan said he would not withdraw his bill requiring medical professionals to provide healthcare to babies described as born aliveBorn showing life, including after a termination. after an abortion, despite Peter Dutton directing Coalition MPs to avoid a federal abortion debate.
Sydney Morning Herald ↗State rules and records left born-alive cases difficult to count
The explanatory memorandum said differing state guidelines and recording practices obscured the number of children born aliveBorn showing life, including after a termination. after terminations and that some were given palliative careCare focused on comfort rather than cure. before dying.
Human Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) explanatory memorandum ↗Llew O'Brien introduced the private member's bill
Llew O'Brien MP presented the bill in the House of Representatives to require equal medical care, de-identified reporting and professional accountability while exempting mothers from prosecution.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
Key criticism
The evidence pack records no criticism of the bill. It contains the sponsor's short speech, after which the allotted debate time expired, and Ms Penfold seconded the bill without speaking on its substance.
O'Brien argued that care should depend on each child's circumstances and could include emergency treatment or comfort care. He said the fact that the birth followed a terminationAn intentional ending of a pregnancy. should not affect that decision.
Further sources
Votes
No recorded votes have been found yet for this bill.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Llew O'Brien supports the bill, arguing that children born aliveBorn showing life, including after a termination. after attempted terminations deserve the same appropriate medical or palliative careCare focused on comfort rather than cure. and legal protection as any other child.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
1 speaker · 1 support
“Ultimately, this bill is about birth equality before the law: once a child is born alive, that child deserves the same dignity, protection and care as every other Australian babies. I commend this bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
House · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
