Genetic Testing: Final Report Released

By Michael Toten

With genetic testing becoming more affordable, more reliable, and easier to conduct, interest in its use is likely to increase

In the employment context, its use in Australia has so far been very limited. However, employers have a duty to ensure that employees' privacy is protected and discrimination against them does not occur as a result of stereotyped assumptions being made about them from test results. For these reasons, intervention to prevent the misuse or abuse of genetic information is necessary. This is the main employment-related conclusion from the final report of an inquiry by the Australian Law reform Commission and the Health Ethics Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council.

(CCH Industrial Law News. issue 6, 18 June 2003)