Inquiry into Human Organ Trafficking and Organ Transplant Tourism
ALHR has made a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry into Human Organ Trafficking and Organ Transplant Tourism.
This Inquiry seeks to examine how the Australian legal system deters organ trafficking and what more can be done to prevent this offence from occurring both in Australia and internationally.
Under the Terms of Reference, the Committee will have regard to the offence of Organ Trafficking under division 271 of the Criminal Code and whether it would be practicable or desirable for:
- this offence to have extraterritorial application; and
- Australia to accede to the 2014 Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs.
Organ trafficking and organ transplant tourism breach international laws and international ethical organ donation standards of various bodies including the World Medical Association and the Transplantation Society. ALHR strongly supports measures designed to protect the human rights of the many thousands of people annually who are victims of illegal human tissue trafficking and organ harvesting and we have indicated our belief that both of the above steps are essential.