{"id":"termination-of-pregnancy-law-reform-regulations-2017","name":"TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY LAW REFORM REGULATIONS 2017","slug":"termination-of-pregnancy-law-reform-regulations-2017","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"nt","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":177171,"registerId":"nt-termination-of-pregnancy-law-reform-regulations-2017-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY LAW REFORM REGULATIONS 2017","content":"NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\nTERMINATION OF PREGNANCY LAW REFORM REGULATIONS 2017\nAs in force at 4 August 2022\nTable of provisions\nPart 1 Preliminary matters\n1 Citation ............................................................................................ 1\n2 Commencement .............................................................................. 1\nPart 3 Standards and guidelines\n5 Standards ........................................................................................ 1\n6 Guidelines........................................................................................ 2\n7 Inspection and purchase of copies of standards and guidelines...... 2\nPart 4 Reporting requirements\nDivision 1 Reports to CHO\n8 Prescribed information ..................................................................... 2\n9 Prescribed time for providing information ........................................ 4\n10 Medical practitioner to provide information to CHO ......................... 5\nDivision 2 Other reporting requirements\n11 Approved forms ............................................................................... 5\n12 Disclosure of confidential information .............................................. 5\nENDNOTES\n\n\n\nNORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\n____________________\nAs in force at 4 August 2022\n____________________\nTERMINATION OF PREGNANCY LAW REFORM REGULATIONS 2017\nRegulations under the Termination of Pregnancy Law Reform Act 2017\nPart 1 Preliminary matters\n1 Citation\nThese Regulations may be cited as the Termination of Pregnancy\nLaw Reform Regulations 2017.\n2 Commencement\nThese Regulations commence on the commencement of the\nTermination of Pregnancy Law Reform Act 2017.\nPart 3 Standards and guidelines\n5 Standards\n(1) The CHO may, by Gazette notice, declare that a document applies\nas a standard in the Territory, or a specified part of the Territory,\nrelating to the performance of terminations.\n(2) The declaration of the standard must:\n(a) specify if the standard applies to the whole of the Territory or\npart of the Territory; and\n(b) describe the subject matter of the standard; and\n(c) specify the date on which the standard applies in the Territory\nor part of the Territory (which may not be earlier than the date\nof the notice); and\n(d) specify the place where, and the times when, a person may\ninspect or purchase a copy of the standard.\n\nPart 4 Reporting requirements\nDivision 1 Reports to CHO\nTermination of Pregnancy Law Reform Regulations 2017 2\n6 Guidelines\n(1) The CHO may set guidelines relating to the policies, procedures\nand requirements involved in the performance of terminations.\n(2) The CHO must, by Gazette notice, give notice of making the\nguidelines.\n(3) The notice must:\n(a) describe the subject matter of the guidelines; and\n(b) specify the date on which the guidelines take effect (which\nmay not be earlier than the date of the notice); and\n(c) specify the place where, and the times when, a person may\ninspect or purchase a copy of the guidelines.\n7 Inspection and purchase of copies of standards and guidelines\nThe CHO:\n(a) must make available copies of standards under the Act for\ninspection or purchase by members of the public; and\n(b) must make available copies of guidelines under the Act for\ninspection or purchase by members of the public.\nPart 4 Reporting requirements\nDivision 1 Reports to CHO\n8 Prescribed information\n(1) For section 17 of the Act, the following information is prescribed:\n(a) the date of birth of the woman who received the termination;\n(b) whether the woman who received the termination is an\nAboriginal person;\n(c) the region of the usual place of residence of the woman who\nreceived the termination;\n(d) whether a follow up appointment in relation to the termination\nwas arranged;\n(e) the date the termination was performed or initiated;\n\nPart 4 Reporting requirements\nDivision 1 Reports to CHO\nTermination of Pregnancy Law Reform Regulations 2017 3\n(f) whether the termination was performed or initiated in an\nemergency situation under section 10 of the Act;\n(g) the method of termination;\n(h) the number of gestational weeks at which the termination was\nperformed or initiated;\n(i) the full name and provider number of:\n(i) the medical practitioner who performed or initiated the\ntermination or directed the performance or initiation of\nthe termination; and\n(ii) for a termination performed at more than 24 gestational\nweeks – any other medical practitioner who was\nconsulted and who assessed the woman prior to the\ntermination;\n(j) the region where the termination was performed or initiated;\n(k) for a termination by surgical procedure, or by a combination of\nboth a surgical procedure and use of a termination drug – the\nname of the premises where the surgical procedure was\nperformed.\n(2) In this regulation:\ngestational weeks means the number of weeks of a woman's\npregnancy as determined by a medical practitioner.\ninitiated means the point in relation to performing a termination, at\nwhich a termination drug is first administered to the woman.\nmethod of termination means any of the following:\n(a) termination by surgical procedure;\n(b) termination by use of a termination drug;\n(c) termination by a combination of both means mentioned in\nparagraphs (a) and (b);\n(d) termination by a means other than a means mentioned in\nparagraph (a) or (b).\nregion means one of the following regions in the Territory:\n(a) Alice Springs;\n(b) Barkly;\n\nPart 4 Reporting requirements\nDivision 1 Reports to CHO\nTermination of Pregnancy Law Reform Regulations 2017 4\n(c) Belyuen;\n(d) Central Desert;\n(e) Coomalie;\n(ea) Cox-Daly;\n(f) Darwin;\n(g) East Arnhem;\n(h) Katherine;\n(i) Litchfield;\n(j) MacDonnell;\n(ja) Marrakai-Douglas Daly;\n(k) Palmerston;\n(l) Roper Gulf;\n(m) Tiwi Islands;\n(n) Victoria Daly;\n(o) Wagait;\n(p) West Arnhem;\n(q) West Daly.\n9 Prescribed time for providing information\nFor section 17 of the Act, the following times are prescribed for\nproviding the information prescribed by regulation 8:\n(a) for a termination by surgical procedure – within 28 days after\nthe performance of the termination;\n(b) for a termination by use of a termination drug – within 28 days\nof the medical practitioner's last consultation with the woman\nin relation to the termination;\n(c) for termination by a combination of both a surgical procedure\nand by use of a termination drug – within 28 days after the\nperformance of the termination;\n\nPart 4 Reporting requirements\nDivision 2 Other reporting requirements\nTermination of Pregnancy Law Reform Regulations 2017 5\n(d) for termination by a means other than a surgical procedure or\nby use of a termination drug – within 28 days of the medical\npractitioner's last consultation with the woman in relation to\nthe termination.\n10 Medical practitioner to provide information to CHO\n(1) A medical practitioner who performs or directs the performance of a\ntermination must provide to the CHO the information prescribed by\nregulation 8 in the approved form and within the time prescribed by\nregulation 9.\nMaximum penalty: 20 penalty units.\n(2) An offence against subregulation (1) is an offence of strict liability.\n(3) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against\nsubregulation (1) if the defendant has a reasonable excuse.\nDivision 2 Other reporting requirements\n11 Approved forms\n(1) The CHO may approve forms for these Regulations.\n(2) The CHO must publish an approved form in a way decided by the\nCHO (for example, on the internet).\n12 Disclosure of confidential information\n(1) A person commits an offence if:\n(a) the person obtains confidential information through:\n(i) acting or assisting in any way in connection with the\nperformance of a termination; or\n(ii) being present at a place where a confidential matter is\nevident or being discussed; or\n(iii) the administration of the Act and these Regulations; and\n(b) the person intentionally engages in conduct; and\n(c) the conduct results in the disclosure of the confidential\ninformation and the person is reckless in relation to that result.\nMaximum penalty: 100 penalty units.\n(2) Strict liability applies to subregulation (1)(a).\n\nPart 4 Reporting requirements\nDivision 2 Other reporting requirements\nTermination of Pregnancy Law Reform Regulations 2017 6\n(3) Subregulation (1) does not apply if:\n(a) the person discloses the confidential information:\n(i) with the consent of the person to whom the information\nrelates; or\n(ii) for legal proceedings arising out of the operation of the\nAct; or\n(iii) for public health information – in a statistical form that\ndoes not identify:\n(A) the woman to whom the information relates; or\n(B) the medical practitioner who provided the\ninformation; or\n(C) the premises for performing terminations to which\nthe information relates; or\n(b) the confidential information is otherwise available to the public.\nNote for subregulation (3)\nIn addition to the circumstances mentioned in subregulation (3), a person who\ndiscloses confidential information will not be criminally responsible for an offence\nif the disclosure is justified or excused by or under a law (see section 43BE of the\nCriminal Code).\n(4) In this regulation:\nconfidential information means any information that relates to a\nconfidential matter.\nconfidential matter means a matter which includes any of the\nfollowing:\n(a) details regarding a termination, including:\n(i) any personal details of a woman receiving a\ntermination; and\n(ii) any circumstances (medical, psychological or social)\nrelating to a termination; and\n(iii) any personal or professional details of a person involved\nin the performance of a termination;\n(b) details of any advice provided to a woman in relation to\nanything under the Act.\n\nENDNOTES\nTermination of Pregnancy Law Reform Regulations 2017 7\nENDNOTES\n1 KEY\nKey to abbreviations\namd = amended od = order\napp = appendix om = omitted\nbl = by-law pt = Part\nch = Chapter r = regulation/rule\ncl = clause rem = remainder\ndiv = Division renum = renumbered\nexp = expires/expired rep = repealed\nf = forms s = section\nGaz = Gazette sch = Schedule\nhdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision\nins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation\nlt = long title sub = substituted\nnc = not commenced\n2 LIST OF LEGISLATION\nTermination of Pregnancy Law Reform Regulations (SL No. 20, 2017)\nNotified 29 June 2017\nCommenced 1 July 2017 (r 2, s 2 Termination of Pregnancy Law Reform\nAct 2017 (Act No. 7, 2017) and Gaz S38, 28 June 2017)\nTermination of Pregnancy Law Reform Amendment Regulations 2018 (SL No. 17, 2018)\nNotified 4 July 2018\nCommenced 4 July 2018\nTermination of Pregnancy Law Reform Legislation Amendment Act 2021 (Act No. 26,\n2021)\nAssent date 15 December 2021\nCommenced 16 December 2021 (s 2)\nTermination of Pregnancy Law Reform Amendment Regulations 2022 (SL No. 10, 2022)\nNotified 3 August 2022\nCommenced 4 August 2022\n3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS\nGeneral amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table\nof amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation\nAmendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22, 2018) to: rr 1 and 4.\n4 LIST OF AMENDMENTS\npt 2 hdg rep Act No. 26, 2021, s 9\nr 3 rep Act No. 26, 2021, s 9\nr 4 amd No. 17, 2018, r 4\nrep Act No. 26, 2021, s 9\nr 8 amd Act No. 26, 2021, s 10; No. 10, 2022, r 4","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"These Regulations predominantly implement administrative and public‑health functions flowing from the Termination of Pregnancy Law Reform Act: they give the CHO authority to publish standards/guidelines, prescribe a specific dataset and timeframes for reporting by practitioners, set forms, and create confidentiality protections and offences. Subsequent amendments cited in the endnotes adjust reporting detail and make technical changes, but do not materially expand the Regulations’ core purpose (administrative oversight and data collection) beyond what the Act authorises."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument (12 regulations, concentrated in Parts 3 and 4)","Six local defined terms in the Regulations (gestational weeks; initiated; method of termination; region; confidential information; confidential matter) (Reg 8(2), Reg 12(4))","A lengthy, enumerated list of 19 named regions (Reg 8(2), region list)","Multiple offence regimes with differing penalties and fault rules: strict‑liability reporting offence (20 penalty units) with a defence; confidentiality offence (100 penalty units) with strict‑liability element (Regs 10, 12)","Conditional timing rules for reporting depending on method of termination (four categories; all 28‑day deadlines) (Reg 9)","CHO discretion to make standards/guidelines, publish notices and approve forms (Regs 5–7, 11)","Exceptions to the confidentiality offence including consent, legal proceedings, and aggregated statistical disclosure (Reg 12(3))","Cross‑reference to the Criminal Code for additional justification/defence (Reg 12 note)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What these Regulations do (mechanically)**\n\n- Give the Chief Health Officer (CHO) the power to set and publish clinical **standards** and **guidelines** about how terminations of pregnancy are performed in the Northern Territory (Reg 5–7). The CHO must publish those instruments by Gazette notice and say where copies can be inspected or bought (Reg 5(2), 6(2)–(3)).\n\n- Require medical practitioners who perform, initiate or direct a termination to provide specific information to the CHO in an approved form and within set time limits (Reg 8–10). The list of required data includes the woman’s date of birth, Aboriginal status, usual region of residence, gestational weeks, method of termination, the date performed or initiated, practitioner names and provider numbers, and the premises where surgical procedures took place (Reg 8(1)).\n\n- Prescribe the time for providing that information (generally within 28 days, timing depends on method — surgical vs drug vs other) (Reg 9) and make failure to report an offence with a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units; the offence is strict liability but a reasonable excuse is a defence (Reg 10).\n\n- Allow the CHO to approve and publish the forms required for reporting (Reg 11).\n\n- Create a criminal offence for intentional and reckless disclosure of confidential information obtained in connection with terminations, with a maximum penalty of 100 penalty units; strict liability applies to how the person came to have the information (Reg 12(1)–(2)).  The regulation specifies exceptions where disclosure is permitted (consent of the person concerned, legal proceedings arising under the Act, and statistical public‑health reporting that does not identify individuals, among others) (Reg 12(3)).\n\n\n**Who this affects**\n\n- Medical practitioners and health services that perform or direct terminations: they must collect, record and submit prescribed information in an approved form and within the prescribed time (Reg 8–11, 10).\n\n- The CHO and the Department of Health: they gain discretion to set clinical standards and guidelines, receive identifiable and clinic‑level data, and publish forms and notices (Reg 5–7, 11).\n\n- Women receiving terminations: personal and clinical details about their care are included in the data the CHO may collect (Reg 8); confidentiality protections apply but there are criminal sanctions for improper disclosure (Reg 12).\n\n\n**Why it matters (official purpose and practical effects)**\n\nThe Regulations implement administrative and safety oversight for termination services by: enabling the CHO to set clinical standards/guidelines (to be publicly available) and creating a mandatory reporting regime to collect individual and service‑level data for monitoring and public health. That is the stated purpose; practically, the Regulations:\n\n- Centralise clinical oversight by giving the CHO broad authority to prescribe how terminations should be performed and to publish associated standards and guidelines (Reg 5–7).\n\n- Require routine reporting of sensitive, identifiable information (including Indigenous status and residential region) and records linking specific practitioners and premises to specific procedures (Reg 8). This supplies the CHO and health system with case‑level data for monitoring but increases the volume of record‑keeping for clinicians.\n\n- Impose criminal penalties for inappropriate disclosure of confidential information (Reg 12), while preserving explicit exceptions for consent, legal proceedings, and aggregated statistical reporting.\n\n\n**Costs, incentives, trade-offs and implementation risks**\n\n- Compliance burden and costs: clinicians and clinics must collect, record and submit a detailed dataset within tight timeframes (generally 28 days) (Reg 8–10). That creates administrative time and record‑keeping costs, which fall on providers (who effectively ‘‘pay’’ through time and administrative resources).\n\n- Enforcement risk and deterrence: the reporting requirement is a strict‑liability offence (Reg 10(2)), although the practitioner has a defence of reasonable excuse (Reg 10(3)). Strict liability lowers the prosecutor’s burden but raises the risk a clinic could be penalised for inadvertent failures to report.\n\n- Privacy and re‑identification risk: the Regulations require identifiable fields (date of birth, region, Aboriginal status, practitioner and premises identifiers) (Reg 8). While Reg 12 criminalises disclosure and allows statistical publication that does not identify individuals (Reg 12(3)(a)(iii)), small regional populations or rare events increase the risk that aggregated data could be re‑identified.\n\n- CHO discretion and regulatory variance: the CHO may apply standards/guidelines to the whole Territory or parts of it and may set different effective dates and publication arrangements (Reg 5(2), 6(3)). That discretion permits tailoring to local conditions but also introduces administrative uncertainty for providers across regions.\n\n- Concentrated vs diffuse effects: benefits (data, oversight) concentrate with the CHO and public‑health planning functions; compliance costs and legal risk are concentrated on the clinicians and facilities doing terminations. Patients bear privacy risk (Reg 8, 12).\n\n- Implementation risks: timely publishing and access to approved forms (Reg 11) and reliable administrative processes are necessary to avoid criminal exposure for practitioners. There is also an operational risk that collecting expanded data could disincentivise some providers from offering services if administrative or privacy‑risk costs are judged high.\n\n\n**Who pays, who decides, and what behaviour changes**\n\n- Who pays: medical practitioners and health services incur the administrative costs of data collection and reporting, and potentially legal/compliance costs if confidentiality rules are breached (Reg 10, 12).\n\n- Who decides: the CHO decides standards, guidelines and the approved reporting forms; the CHO also controls where and how the public inspects or purchases those documents (Reg 5–7, 11).\n\n- Behaviour changes: practitioners will be required to keep more detailed records, submit them within 28 days, and exercise caution about disclosing case details. Clinics may change administrative procedures and record‑holding practices to manage compliance and privacy risk (Reg 8–12).\n\n\n**Key provisions to note**\n\n- CHO power to declare standards and set guidelines: Reg 5–7.\n- Prescribed reporting fields (including practitioner and facility identifiers): Reg 8.\n- Reporting deadlines (generally 28 days, varying by method): Reg 9.\n- Duty to report and penalty (20 penalty units; strict liability with defence): Reg 10.\n- Confidentiality offence and exceptions (100 penalty units; strict liability for source): Reg 12.\n\n\n(References in parentheses are to the regulation numbers in the Termination of Pregnancy Law Reform Regulations 2017.)"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations remain focused on their original purpose: operationalising the Termination of Pregnancy Law Reform Act 2017 by setting standards, guidelines, and reporting requirements. The amendments shown in the endnotes (2018, 2021, 2022) appear to be minor technical updates rather than scope expansion."},"complexity_factors":["Short length (12 substantive regulations across 6 pages)","Minimal cross-referencing (primarily references to 'the Act' without detailed section mapping)","Straightforward conditional logic (simple offence/defence structure in regulation 12)","Limited defined terms (only 4 defined terms: 'gestational weeks', 'initiated', 'method of termination', 'region', plus 'confidential information' and 'confidential matter' in regulation 12)","Clear structure with descriptive headings (Parts and Divisions logically organised)","No nested exceptions (regulation 12(3) contains a simple list of exceptions without sub-exceptions)"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set out the operational details for how pregnancy terminations (abortions) are performed and reported in the Northern Territory. They give the Chief Health Officer (CHO) power to set **clinical standards** and **guidelines** that doctors must follow when performing terminations. The regulations also require doctors to report specific details about each termination to the CHO—including the woman's age, location, method used, and gestational age—within 28 days. There are strict **confidentiality rules** protecting patient information, with heavy penalties (up to 100 penalty units) for unauthorised disclosure, though exceptions exist for statistical reporting and legal proceedings."},"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"},"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Based on the available metadata, these regulations appear to be a standard instrument giving effect to the parent Termination of Pregnancy Law Reform Act. The 2022 update (Regs No. 10, 2022) likely reflects amendments or updates to the operational rules rather than a fundamental shift in scope. No evidence of scope creep or deviation from the original legislative intent is apparent from the information provided."},"complexity_factors":["The legislative content itself was not supplied — only metadata was provided, limiting substantive analysis","Regulations of this type typically involve cross-referencing with the parent Act (Termination of Pregnancy Law Reform Act) to understand full effect","May involve medical and clinical terminology requiring interpretation","Interaction between federal health registration frameworks (e.g., AHPRA) and Territory-specific rules can add complexity","As subordinate legislation (regulations), they sit beneath and depend on the parent Act, requiring both documents to be read together"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations implement the Termination of Pregnancy Law Reform Act in the Northern Territory by setting the practical rules for how terminations may be carried out. They affect people seeking terminations, the health practitioners who provide or assist with them, and the facilities where they occur.\n\nThey matter because they translate legal principles into everyday practice, shaping access to services and the obligations and limits imposed on providers."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/termination-of-pregnancy-law-reform-regulations-2017","history":"/api/acts/termination-of-pregnancy-law-reform-regulations-2017/history","analysis":"/api/acts/termination-of-pregnancy-law-reform-regulations-2017/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/termination-of-pregnancy-law-reform-regulations-2017/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/termination-of-pregnancy-law-reform-regulations-2017/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/termination-of-pregnancy-law-reform-regulations-2017/documents"}}