{"id":"family-court-surrogacy-rules-2009","name":"Family Court (Surrogacy) Rules 2009","slug":"family-court-surrogacy-rules-2009","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":176646,"registerId":"wa-family-court-surrogacy-rules-2009-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Family Court (Surrogacy) Rules 2009","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nFamily Court Act 1997\n\nFamily Court (Surrogacy) Rules 2009\n\nWestern Australia\n\nFamily Court (Surrogacy) Rules 2009\n\nContents\n\n1. Citation 1\n\n2. Commencement 1\n\n3. Terms used in these rules 1\n\n4. Application of these rules 2\n\n5. Application of *Family Court Rules 2021* 2\n\n7. Application for parentage orders 2\n\n8. Ancillary application 2\n\n9. Response to an application 3\n\n10. Service of application or response 3\n\n11. Hearing not necessary if application non‑contentious 4\n\n12. Notice of hearing of applications 4\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 5\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nFamily Court Act 1997\n\nFamily Court (Surrogacy) Rules 2009\n\n##### 1. Citation\n\n\t\tThese rules are the *Family Court (Surrogacy) Rules 2009*.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThese rules come into operation as follows —\n\n(a) rules 1 and 2 — on the day on which these rules are published in the *Gazette*;\n\n(b) the rest of the rules — on the day on which the *Surrogacy Act 2008* section 20 comes into operation.\n\n##### 3. Terms used in these rules\n\n(1) In these rules —\n\n  ancillary application means an application for an order other than a parentage order;\n\n  approved, in relation to forms, means approved by the Chief Judge;\n\n  arranged parents has the meaning given in the *Surrogacy Act 2008* section 14;\n\n  birth parents has the meaning given in the *Surrogacy Act 2008* section 14;\n\n  child means the child in respect of whom an application for a parentage order is made;\n\nCouncil has the meaning given in the *Surrogacy Act 2008* section 15;\n\n  parentage order has the meaning given in the *Surrogacy Act 2008* section 14.\n\n##### 4. Application of these rules\n\nThese rules apply for the purposes of the exercise by the Court of its jurisdiction under the *Surrogacy Act 2008*.\n\n##### 5. Application of *Family Court Rules 2021*\n\nThe *Family Court Rules 2021* apply to the exercise by the Court of its jurisdiction under the *Surrogacy Act 2008*.\n\n[Rule 5 inserted: SL 2021/148 r. 556(2).]\n\n[**6.** Deleted: SL 2021/148 r. 556(2).]\n\n##### 7. Application for parentage orders\n\n(1) An application for a parentage order is to be in an approved form.\n\n(2) The application is to be filed in the Court together with —\n\n(a) if the *Surrogacy Act 2008* section 16(1) applies, a copy of the Council’s approval; and\n\n(b) if the application is made by 2 persons jointly, the marriage certificate, if any, of the applicants.\n\n(3) The application is to be accompanied by affidavit evidence as to facts on the basis of which the Court may be satisfied as required by the *Surrogacy Act 2008* section 21(2).\n\n##### 8. Ancillary application\n\n(1) An ancillary application under a provision of the *Surrogacy Act 2008* referred to in the Table is to be in an approved form.\n\nTable\n\n| **Provision** | **Description of application** |\n| --- | --- |\n| s. 20(3) | for leave to lodge application for parentage order out of time |\n| s. 21(3) | to dispense with a requirement referred to in s. 21(2)(b), (c), (d) or (f) |\n| s. 23 | for ancillary orders |\n| s. 27 | to discharge a parentage order |\n| s. 30 | for approval to vary an approved plan |\n| s. 31 | alleging breach of approved plan |\n| s. 36 | to exclude a person from having access to information |\n\n\n(2) An ancillary application is to be filed in the Court and accompanied by affidavit evidence as to the facts relied on in support of the orders sought in the application.\n\n(3) The affidavit evidence referred to in subrule (2) is to be separate from affidavit evidence in support of an application for a parentage order.\n\n##### 9. Response to an application\n\n(1) A person who seeks to oppose an order sought in an application for a parentage order or an ancillary application or seeks a different order is to file a response in an approved form.\n\n(2) A response is to be filed in the Court accompanied by affidavit evidence as to the facts relied on in support of the response.\n\n##### 10. Service of application or response\n\nA sealed copy of an application for a parentage order, an ancillary application or a response, and the affidavit in support of the application or response is to be served on persons and in a manner, as the Court directs.\n\n##### 11. Hearing not necessary if application non‑contentious\n\nUnless the Court directs otherwise, a non‑contentious application for a parentage order or ancillary application may be dealt with in the absence of any party to the application or the party’s lawyer.\n\n##### 12. Notice of hearing of applications\n\nIf the Court decides that there should be a hearing in relation to an application, the Principal Registrar is to give not less than 28 days’ notice of the time and place of the hearing, or such other period of notice as the Court directs, to all persons entitled to be heard.\n\n![]()\n\nNotes\n\nThis is a compilation of the *Family Court (Surrogacy) Rules 2009* and includes amendments made by other written laws. For provisions that have come into operation see the compilation table.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Citation** | **Published** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| *Family Court (Surrogacy) Rules 2009* | 25 Feb 2009 p. 491‑9 | r. 1 and 2: 25 Feb 2009 (see r. 2(a));   Rules other than r. 1 and 2: 1 Mar 2009 (see r. 2(b) and *Gazette* 27 Feb 2009 p. 512*)* |\n| *Family Court Rules 2021* Pt. 30 | SL 2021/148 18 Aug 2021 | 23 Aug 2021 (see r. 2(b)) |\n\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\nancillary application 3(1)\n\napproved 3(1)\n\narranged parents 3(1)\n\nbirth parents 3(1)\n\nchild 3(1)\n\nCouncil 3(1)\n\nparentage order 3(1)\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The procedural scope was updated by expressly applying the Family Court Rules 2021 to Surrogacy Act matters (r 5, inserted SL 2021/148 r.556(2)) and deleting a prior rule (r 6 deleted). That amendment aligns surrogacy procedure with the court's current family rules framework and modifies the instrument's procedural regime (see r 5 and compilation table)."},"complexity_factors":["Cross‑references to the Surrogacy Act 2008 for substantive tests and definitions (see rr 3, 4, 7, 8)","Use of approved forms and Chief Judge approval for form content (r 3(1), r 7(1), r 8(1))","Affidavit evidence requirements for both parentage and ancillary applications and requirement that ancillary affidavits be separate (rr 7(3), 8(2)–(3))","Court discretion over how service is effected and whether hearings are required (r 10, r 11)","Incorporation of the Family Court Rules 2021 into procedure for Surrogacy Act matters (r 5) and deletion of a prior rule (r 6 deleted)","Specified notice period for hearings subject to Court direction (r 12)"],"plain_english_summary":"These rules set the court procedure for applying for parentage orders and related surrogacy applications under the Surrogacy Act 2008. They require approved forms, filing with affidavit evidence, Court‑directed service, and give the Court discretion to deal with non‑contentious matters without parties present."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative text was not retrievable. No comparison between original intent and enacted provisions is possible from the available content."},"complexity_factors":["Legislation text is entirely unavailable — only a 404-style error page was provided","No substantive content could be analysed","Complexity score reflects the inability to assess the document, not the likely complexity of surrogacy procedural rules (which are typically moderately complex)"],"plain_english_summary":"The Family Court (Surrogacy) Rules 2009 are procedural rules for how surrogacy cases are handled in the Western Australian Family Court. They primarily affect intended parents, surrogate mothers and their lawyers in applications for parentage orders. Made in 2009, the instrument may be outdated or superseded — check the WA Parliamentary Counsel’s Office (legislation.wa.gov.au) for the current text."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains focused on its original purpose: establishing court procedures for surrogacy parentage orders under the Surrogacy Act 2008. The 2021 amendment (inserting Rule 5 and deleting Rule 6) simply updated the cross-reference to the general court rules without expanding the scope beyond surrogacy matters."},"complexity_factors":["Only 12 rules total, with one deleted (Rule 6)","7 defined terms in a single interpretation section (Rule 3)","Heavy reliance on external legislation — the Surrogacy Act 2008 and Family Court Rules 2021 — requiring cross-referencing to understand full procedural requirements","Simple procedural structure: application requirements, response mechanism, service rules, and hearing provisions","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic; most rules are straightforward directives","Table format in Rule 8 provides clear mapping of statutory sections to application types"],"plain_english_summary":"These rules set out the **court procedures for surrogacy arrangements in Western Australia**. They explain how people apply to become the legal parents of a child born through surrogacy.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- **Intended parents** (called \"arranged parents\") who want to be legally recognised as the child's parents\n- **Birth parents** (the surrogate and their partner, if any) who carried the pregnancy\n- **The child** born through the surrogacy arrangement\n\n**What it does:**\n- Sets out the **paperwork requirements** for applying to the Family Court for a \"parentage order\" — a court order that transfers legal parentage from the birth parents to the arranged parents\n- Requires applications to be on **approved forms** and supported by **affidavit evidence** (sworn written statements)\n- Lists **ancillary applications** — related court requests such as:\n  - Applying late for a parentage order\n  - Asking the court to waive certain requirements\n  - Changing or cancelling a parentage order\n  - Complaining about a breach of the surrogacy plan\n- Explains how to **oppose an application** by filing a response\n- Allows **non-contentious applications** (where everyone agrees) to be decided without a court hearing\n- Requires **28 days' notice** of any hearing\n\n**Why it matters:**\nWithout these rules, intended parents couldn't complete the legal process to become the child's parents. The rules ensure surrogacy arrangements are handled consistently, with proper evidence and procedural fairness, while allowing straightforward cases to proceed efficiently without unnecessary court appearances."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/family-court-surrogacy-rules-2009","history":"/api/acts/family-court-surrogacy-rules-2009/history","analysis":"/api/acts/family-court-surrogacy-rules-2009/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/family-court-surrogacy-rules-2009/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/family-court-surrogacy-rules-2009/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/family-court-surrogacy-rules-2009/documents"}}