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Are consent and privacy issues in genetics any different to other areas of medical practice?
The 2003 Australian Law Reform Commission & Australian Health Ethics Committee enquiry into genetic privacy issues discusses various issues related to consent and privacy in the document Essentially Yours – the protection of human genetic information in Australia (see www.nhmrc.gov.au/about/committees/hgac/index.htm for this report as well as the government’s response). A recommendation from this enquiry was that it should be illegal to undertake DNA testing without proper consent unless directed to by the court. This would include paternity testing.