Government response to the ALRC’s 2004 report – Genes and Ingenuity: Gene Patenting and Human Health

On 17 December 2002 the then Australian Government Attorney-General, the Hon Daryl Williams MP, asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to inquire into and report on the laws and practices governing intellectual property rights over genetic materials and related technologies, with a particular focus on human health issues. The Final Report, Genes and Ingenuity: Gene Patenting and Human Health (ALRC Report 99), was tabled on 31 August 2004.

The Government has today released its response to the ALRC’s Final Report. The response is provided as part of a combined Government response also addressing the recommendations of the 2010 Senate Community Affairs Committee’s report on Gene Patents and the 2011 Advisory Council on Intellectual Property’s report on Patentable Subject Matter.

The response accepts the majority of the recommendations in all three reports, including the ALRC’s recommendation to introduce a statutory research exemption into the Patents Act 1990.

The complete Government response is available at the IP Australia website.