Article – Relationships Australia SA

South Australia’s Donor Conception Laws Explained

Maya Aguilar — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 07:00:58 +0000

What is the Donor Conception Register (DCR)?

The DCR is a central record of South Australian donor conception treatment information, including historical information from the 1970s up to the current day.

It is the first register of its kind in Australia and includes donor names, genetic history, and people conceived from donations.

Adults connected to a South Australian donor conception can register to access their records.

Recent changes to the law

On 26 February 2025, South Australia changed its laws to give people conceived before September 2004 access to donor information that was previously unavailable. This means that donor anonymity was removed.

What this means

Donor-conceived people can register to access their information within an online archive that is updated in real-time.
The identities of people who donated under anonymity can now be accessed by connected donor-conceived people.

The changes were made after consultation with the South Australian donor conception community to support the health and wellbeing of donor-conceived people.

How these changes may affect you

Prior to 1988 there was no legal requirement for doctors and assisted reproductive treatment clinics to keep records about donor conception treatments. Donors were guaranteed lifelong anonymity and parents were often advised not to tell their child the truth about their conception.

If you were a donor or donor-conceived before September 2004, you may:

Have only recently discovered you are donor-conceived
Feel unsure about how to contact a DCR connection
Be exploring your genetic heritage for the first time
Feel concerned about your privacy or missing information
Need support to have sensitive conversations with loved ones
Be experiencing feelings of uncertainty if you donated on the condition of anonymity

No matter your situation, it’s important to know support is available.

The DCR Support Service

The DCR Support Service at Relationships Australia SA offers free, confidential support for donors, donor-conceived people, and their families.

We provide a range of support including:

Counselling
Assistance accessing and understanding information found on the DCR
Further checks and search work where there are gaps in records available on the DCR
Support managing contact with a DCR connection
Support for having sensitive conversations with others
Information on your rights and responsibilities

You can find more information by visiting:

Tips for parents in temporary accommodation in a Motel

Abby Bowden — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 22:54:41 +0000

Living in temporary accommodation, whether in a motel or temporary housing, brings unique challenges for families experiencing homelessness. It disrupts normal family routines and lifestyles and there is less space and privacy.

Here are some tips to help you during your stay in temporary accommodation. We hope it helps you to better understand how and why your child may be behaving differently.

Routines are important

While it may not be possible straight away, returning to familiar routines offers comfort and safety to your children. Watching a favourite TV show, enjoying preferred foods, or visiting familiar places can provide comfort and safety.

As space is limited, establish a ‘wind down’ routine with an activity like reading, drawing, or doing puzzles together to indicate when it is a bedtime.

Take care of yourself

Give yourself some time to process what your family is going through. Allowing yourself enough time to process what you are going through will make it easier to help your children make sense of their own complex feelings.

Help your children make sense of what is happening

Children may feel curious or concerned about the life changes. Reassure them that these changes are temporary and encourage them to express their worries.

Let your kids know you’re there for them, providing both physical and emotional support. Create a safe space for them within the accommodation, through your reassurances, familiar toys, sticking to familiar activities and routines where possible.

Some children may believe they caused family changes. It’s important to let them know it’s not their fault, and that you are there to support them.

What you may see from children living in temporary accommodation

Age regression

Children might revert to old habits like thumb sucking, wetting pants, talking differently, or wanting to be with their parents all the time, due to big changes. These are common reactions. Respond calmly and kindly; your child may feel shy or worried sharing these behaviours.

Sleep disruption and feeling sick

Children may struggle with sleep, have stomach aches or headaches, especially if they’re too young to express feelings. To help, read stories, play music, cuddle, and offer comfort foods. They may need kind words and hugs for reassurance.

Big behaviours

During significant changes, children may display intense feelings and behaviours. These could manifest as anger and outbursts due to worries and confusion.

Stay calm when your child has strong emotions. Acknowledge their feelings and reassure them of your support and love to enhance their sense of safety.

When your child has strong feelings, they might not express their needs clearly. Check in with them later to ask how you can help next time any strong feelings arise.

Suggestion activities that can help calm the feelings. Include activities like deep breaths, a comforting toy, sensory toys such as play-dough or a stress ball, or activities like pushing against a sturdy wall to release tension. Model calm responses and practice your strategies as this will help support your child to manage their emotions.

Withdrawing

Some children won’t express their feelings verbally or physically; they may be quiet, sleep more, present with stomach aches, or seem zoned out.

Getting active can be useful for children who are withdrawn; take a walk or spend time outdoors. Provide shared activities like drawing or writing or reading with them to help them express feelings if words are challenging.

It is important to remember...

Every child is different. Children react uniquely to events, even if they share the same experiences. Some may become quieter or withdrawn, while others may act out.

Regularly check in with your children and reassure them that they can come to you for support.

How to get support

Relationships Australia SA offers a range of support services for families and parents. For more resources for children and parents visit Together 4 Kids. For local support services visit  Adults Supporting Kids (ASK). Visit Crisis Help + Support to find other trusted organisations that offer support for adults, children, and families. 

Service Acknowledgment

The Child Focused Support Service (Together4Kids) is provided by Relationships Australia SA and funded by the Government of South Australia, Department of Human Services, Housing Authority.

If you feel like you need extra support Relationships Australia SA also offers a range of services for families and children and youth that can help. Together4Kids provides therapeutic support to children aged 0–12 to help them: overcome trauma, strengthen children’s ability to deal with difficult feelings and reactions, and adjust to family changes and disruptions. Get in touch with us today.

Let’s Talk About Conflict

WPCreative — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 10:54:11 +0000

The Let’s Talk About Conflict video series explores how conflict in parental relationships can affect children and how conflict can be repaired by getting the right support. It is a seven-part video series, each 5–10 minutes in duration, with supportive learnings and takeaways about why we should deal with conflict.

It was written by two Professors of Developmental Psychology, Jennifer McIntosh and Craig Olsson, from the Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development (SEED) at Deakin University and was produced by Relationships Australia SA.

Explore how Parental Relationships Affect Children

The series is designed for use by parents, whether they live together or are separated. It is a practical tool to support them to reduce the impact of their conflict on their children’s emotional and social development.

Based on more than 20 years of scientific research and practice evidence, it features ideas and tips from experts that are direct and to-the-point. The series also highlights the real experiences of parents who have made real-life challenges related to the conflict in their family.

What you will Learn

Using the garden as a metaphor to facilitate understanding, parents will learn what ‘parental conflict’ is and why it is important to move beyond just living with it, to talking about it.

Science can help parents of this generation to:

better understand how parental conflict can interfere with children’s attachment security;
how children of different ages try to adapt to parental conflict;
how parents can manage parental conflict, and;
how they can be their child’s hero by preventing and repairing damage from parental conflict.

Watch the Full Series

To explore more about how parental relationships affect children, what the full series:

Please note that Relationships Australia SA does not offer a certificate or verification of completion for these videos.

Acknowledgments

Let’s Talk About Conflict © was written by Jennifer E. McIntosh and Craig Olsson from the Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development (SEED), Deakin University. It was produced by Relationships Australia SA.