Law reforms propose clearer access to surrogacy: South Australia

Mother's and a child hands — Close up of mother or older sister and a child hands at the sunset

Reforms proposed to South Australian surrogacy laws recommend an updated and improved non-commercial system of domestic surrogacy to protect the interests of all parties, especially those of the surrogate child.

In a report delivered to the Attorney-General, the South Australian Law Reform Institute (SALRI) based at the University of Adelaide’s Law School proposed major changes to the state’s surrogacy laws, including:

Enabling single people in South Australia to access surrogacy;
Enabling South Australians to access interstate-based fertility and surrogacy arrangements;
Clarifying and enhancing the checks and balances that childless ‘intending’ couples must comply with;
Mandatory counselling for intending parents and the surrogate mother.

The Institute, an independent law reform body, was asked to consider an appropriate regulatory framework for surrogacy arrangements in South Australia by former Attorney-General John Rau, with current Attorney-General Vickie Chapman also supporting the review.

“The quest for a child is a very sensitive issue for people who want a family but are unable to have their own,” says the University of Adelaide’s Professor John Williams, Director of the SA Law Reform Institute.

“There are many moral, legal, technical, medical and ethical issues that surround surrogacy. Our proposed reforms follow wide research and extensive community consultation, taking into account many diverse views, ranging from those who want a commercial surrogacy system in South Australia to those who oppose all forms of surrogacy,” Professor Williams says.

Sixty-nine recommendations are contained in the report delivered to the Attorney-General. The report builds on the work of the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, who had previously proposed a Private Member’s Bill on surrogacy.

“Our reforms aim to strengthen current laws, retaining and updating the present non-commercial system of domestic surrogacy, encouraging families to use lawful Australian-based surrogacy, and discouraging the use of overseas commercial arrangements,” says Professor Williams.

“The proposed reforms also remove some of the restrictions that are seen by the community as unnecessary: currently, it is illegal for single people in South Australia to access surrogacy arrangements, and to access fertility and surrogacy services from interstate.”

The South Australian Youth Court examines a small number of applications for surrogacy arrangements each year. The rights of the child are central to each case.

“By clarifying and enhancing the checks and balances which childless ‘intending’ couples must comply with, our reforms will help to ensure that they have a surrogacy arrangement in place, prior to any fertility treatment, which will be recognised by the Youth Court. This will encourage people to use non-commercial surrogacy,” says the Deputy Director of the SA Law Reform Institute, the University of Adelaide’s Dr David Plater.

“Non-commercial surrogacy where the surrogate mother is not paid for carrying the child for the intending parents, except for reimbursement of her medical and other expenses, is the only legal form of surrogacy in Australia.

“Current laws state that any fertility treatment should take place in South Australia. We propose that this requirement be abolished,” Dr Plater says.

“A high proportion of surrogacy arrangements involve parties from different states. Ultimately, we would like to see a national surrogacy framework of uniform legislation which would enable surrogate mothers to assist couples from other states more easily,” he says.

The report acknowledges that counselling plays an essential role in surrogacy arrangements.

“Under our proposed reforms, both intending parents and a surrogate mother must obtain a counselling certificate from an independent counsellor to confirm it is appropriate to proceed,” says Dr Plater.

Madeleine Thompson, a researcher from the University of Adelaide’s Law School and report co-author, interviewed interested parties, surrogate mothers and intending parents during the extensive community consultation.

“The consultation process has proved powerful,” says Ms Thompson.

“We heard from surrogate mothers about their profound desire to help childless families. People’s own, sometimes painful, experiences have brought into sharp focus how the current law affects people’s quest for a surrogate mother.

“Currently single people in South Australia cannot use surrogacy whatever the circumstances. One case highlighted the unfairness of this situation. A couple had arranged a close family member to be a surrogate but sadly one member of the couple died before the process was started.

“Unless the law changes, the remaining member of the couple will never have a child from their partnership,” says Ms Thompson.

The Institute’s report also acknowledges that mothers should not be financially disadvantaged through acting as surrogates, while also reinforcing that commercial surrogacy is illegal.

“Commercial surrogacy will remain illegal under the reforms we are proposing,” says Professor Williams.

“We also conclude that international surrogacy is an issue for the Commonwealth and not the states.

“While South Australia’s laws need to be updated to make them as effective as possible to protect all parties, we believe there is a genuine need for a uniform national approach to surrogacy administered by the Commonwealth,” he says.

(Source: The University of Adelaide)

Breast milk and babies’ saliva shape oral microbiome

Happy Asain Baby Girl Close-up Portrait — Subject: Happy 3-months old Asian Chinese baby attempting to crawl.

Newborn breastfed babies’ saliva combines with breastmilk to release antibacterial compounds that help to shape the bacterial communities (microbiota) in babies’ mouths, biomedical scientists have found.

A study led by Dr Emma Sweeney and Adjunct Associate Professor Christine Knox, from QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, with colleagues at the University of Queensland, showed that the growth of some microbes was inhibited for up to 24 hours following breastmilk and saliva mixing.

Dr Sweeney said the team’s earlier studies had found significant differences in the prevalence of key bacteria within the mouths of breastfed and formula-fed babies and that breastmilk and saliva interactions boost innate immunity by acting in synergy to regulate the oral microbiome of newborn babies.

“Our findings suggest that breastmilk is more than a simple source of nutrition for babies because it plays an important role in shaping a healthy oral microbiome,” Dr Sweeney said.

“Our previous research found that the interaction of neonatal saliva and breast milk releases antibacterial compounds, including hydrogen peroxide.

“Breastmilk is high in an enzyme called xanthine oxidase which acts on two substrates, found in babies’ saliva.

“The release of hydrogen peroxide from this interaction also activates the ‘lactoperoxidase system’ which produces additional compounds that also have antibacterial activity, and these compounds are capable of regulating the growth of microorganisms.

“In this study, we exposed a variety of microorganisms to breastmilk and saliva mixtures, and found that the growth of these microorganisms was inhibited, immediately and for up to 24 hours, irrespective of whether the microorganism was considered to be ‘pathogenic’ (harmful) or ‘commensal’ (normally found) in an infant’s mouth.”

Dr Sweeney said the composition of newborns’ mouth microbiota was an important factor in health and wellbeing.

“Changes to these bacterial communities in newborns have important implications for infection or disease early in life,” she said.

“While adult oral microbiota are stable, our studies have shown that the microbiota in the mouths of newborns is much more dynamic and seems to be altered by the mode of feeding within the first few months of life.

“The combination of breastmilk and saliva has been shown to play an important role in shaping the healthy oral microbiota during the first few months of life, but this also has significant implications for premature or sick babies who are fed via a tube.

“In these cases, the mixing of breastmilk and babies’ saliva does not occur and so they do not receive the benefits of the antibacterial compounds released during breastfeeding.

“Other researchers have shown that hydrogen peroxide can remain active at pH levels similar to that of a baby’s stomach, so we think that this antimicrobial activity seen in the mouth may also continue within the baby’s stomach and intestines.

The effect of breastmilk and saliva combinations on the in vitro growth of oral pathogenic and commensal microorganisms was published in Scientific Reports.

(Source: Queensland University of Technology, Scientific Reports)

Don’t worry if your infant doesn’t sleep through the night by 6-12 months of age | Canada

Newborn baby boy sleeping with his father on bed — Top view of newborn baby boy sleeping with his father on bed. Father and son lying together on bed.

New parents often expect their baby to start sleeping through the night by around six months of age. Indeed, they often receive messages from paediatricians and others about the importance of early sleep consolidation. But authors of a study in Pediatrics found that a large percentage of healthy babies don’t reach that milestone by six months of age, or even at a year old. The McGill-led research team also examined whether infants who didn’t sleep for six or eight consecutive hours were more likely to have problems with psychomotor and mental development, and found no association. The researchers also found no correlation between infants waking up at night and their mothers’ postnatal mood.

Study details

The researchers analysed information from the Maternal Adversity, Vulnerability, and Neurodevelopment longitudinal birth cohort study, which recruited participants from obstetric clinics in Montreal, Québec and Hamilton, Ontario. Sleeping through the night was defined as either six or eight hours of sleep without waking up. Sleep measures were available for 388 infants at six months old, and 369 infants at a year old.

At six months of age, according to mothers’ reports, 38 per cent of typically developing infants were not yet sleeping at least six consecutive hours at night; more than half (57 per cent) weren’t sleeping eight hours. At twelve months old, 28 per cent of infants weren’t yet sleeping six hours straight at night, and 43 per cent weren’t staying asleep for eight hours. Researchers saw a difference between sleep patterns of boys and girls. At six months old, a slightly higher percentage of girls than boys slept for eight hours straight. (48 % vs. 39 %).

Researchers also found no correlation between infants waking up at night and their mothers’ postnatal mood. But they did discover that babies who didn’t sleep for six or eight consecutive hours had a significantly higher rate of breastfeeding, which offers many benefits for babies and mothers.

A “gold standard” that may need to be revised

Sleeping through the night somewhere between six to twelve months is generally considered the “gold standard” in Western nations. Indeed, behavioural sleep training is popular among parents and professionals to encourage the children to sleep. But lead researcher, Marie-Hélène Pennestri, from McGill University’s Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and the Sleep Clinic at Hôpital en santé mentale Rivière-des-Prairies (CIUSSS-NIM) hopes that the results of the study will allay some parental worries:

“Our findings suggest parents might benefit from more education about the normal development of – and wide variability in – infants’ sleep-wake cycles instead of only focusing on methods and interventions, especially for those who feel stressed about methods such as delayed response to crying.” She says, “Maternal sleep deprivation is often invoked to support the introduction of early behavioural interventions, but it may be that mothers’ expectations about being awakened at night along with the total number of hours they sleep over the course of a day are better predictors of maternal well-being. It is something that will need to be considered in future studies.”

(Source: McGill, Pediatrics)

Movie tickets to SECOND ACT – Winners

Congratulations to all the winners! We hope you enjoy the movie! We had a difficult time choosing the winners, as there were a lot of very creative, funny and inspiring answers.

Name	Suburb	State
L Allen	Alfred Cove	WA
J Armstrong	Mitcham	VIC
M Bryant	Engadine	NSW
J Castledine	Greensborough	VIC
N Gayle	North Bexley	NSW
D Gerber	Glenelg East	SA
H Jones	Gowrie Junction	QLD
A Mason	Glenelg South	SA
F Mohsin	Caversham	WA
N Murnane	Condon	QLD

You haven’t won this time? Don’t worry – check out our competition section. We regularly run great competitions and maybe next time you are one of the happy winners!

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Autism early education breakthrough

Boy solving a white puzzle — Focused little boy solving a white puzzle

In a world first, breakthrough research from La Trobe University has shown that toddlers with autism are just as capable of learning important life skills through early-intervention delivered in mainstream pre-schools as in specialised settings.

Over a period of three years, 44 children aged between 15 and 32 months were randomly assigned to classrooms that included only children with autism or to classrooms with typically developing peers.

Using the same type of intervention method for all children – the Group-Early Start Denver Model (G-ESDM) developed at La Trobe – toddlers with autism showed improvements in their vocal skills, social interaction skills, imitation, verbal cognition and adaptive behaviours, irrespective of their learning environment.

La Trobe researcher, Dr Kristelle Hudry, said the findings confirm supporting pre-schoolers with autism in mainstream early childhood settings is achievable.

“We found that the overall quality of the learning and teaching environment in the mainstream playrooms was exceptionally high and graded equal when compared to the specialised playrooms,” Dr Hudry said.

“This means the extra training and added requirements involved in including children with autism into mainstream classrooms didn’t detract from student development or reduce the amount of attention staff gave to typically developing children.”

A team of professionals and researchers across three centres – the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) and the Community Children’s Centre (CCC), both at La Trobe University, and Gowrie Victoria – conducted the research.

CCC Director and Training Coordinator, Kristy Capes, said the results were a testament to educators, who went through rigorous training to provide the highest standard of teaching.

“The results give evidence for choice. We’re proud to have worked to fill a gap in autism research that could result in families being able to access specialised teaching and supports within their local community childcare centres,” Miss Capes said.

“We’ve helped toddlers with autism develop life skills that will help them in future – across both classroom settings. Our early intervention program ensures children aren’t just reaching their own developmental goals, but they’re learning how to generalise their learning in a group environment.

“Parents have reflected this is translating positively in the real world. Their children can now play in the sandpit or go to a party without feeling overwhelmed.”

La Trobe researcher, Dr Cathy Bent, said it is important for children with a disability to have the opportunity to learn with their peers in regular educational settings.

“It can also help prevent discrimination and negative social perception towards people on the spectrum, as it gives children without a disability the chance to become more accepting of diversity from an early age,” Dr Bent said.

The positive findings have encouraged the team at La Trobe to further their work in this area.

“We aim to start a new study next year with a particular focus on the training and support we provide educators – which is currently a very resource intensive model,” Dr Hudry said.

“Ultimately, it would be fantastic to see opportunities of this type available nationally for pre-schoolers with autism and their families.

“As a growing number of toddlers are diagnosed with autism, it’s becoming increasingly important to provide families with more choice.”

About Group-Early Start Denver Model (G-ESDM)

ESDM is an intensive model of early autism intervention with a foundational evidence-base for one-on-one delivery

The team at La Trobe developed G-ESDM; an adaptation for use in group environments

In G-ESDM, staff work with children to support their individual learning goals within group activities

ESDM is a naturalistic developmental model, which targeting learning goals that are appropriate for the child’s development stage and embeds these within their natural routines. For this reason, it is particularly well-suited to use in early childhood settings

The research has been published in the journal Autism with lead author, Dr Giacomo Vivanti from Drexel University, who was also lead author on the Group-based Early Start Denver Model Manual. Other authors on the paper, in addition to Dr Kristelle Hudry, Ms Kristy Capes and Dr Catherine Bent, include Professor Cheryl Dissanayake, Mr Ed Duncan, Ms Jessica Feary, Ms Shannon Upson and Professor Sally Rogers. The researchers would also like to acknowledge their partnership with Gowrie Victoria.

(Source: La Trobe University, Autism)

Bullying and emotional and behavioural problems impact on primary students’ learning ability

Sad pupil being bullied by classmates at corridor in school

New research has found that a large percentage of Australian eight to 12-year-olds are being bullied and/or experiencing emotional difficulties – and these children are falling behind their peers in numeracy and reading in the classroom.

The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute’s Centre for Adolescent Health has produced the Student Wellbeing, Engagement and Learning across the Middle Years report for the Federal Department of Education and Training.

According to the report, a substantial proportion of students in middle primary school (Years 3 to 5) are not tracking well. 20 per cent experience persistent emotional problems (like depression and anxiety), 20 per cent have behavioural problems, and around 10 per cent self-report low wellbeing.

More than 20 per cent of children in Years 3 to 5 is also being bullied across two or even three years. The statistics in the report come from a longitudinal study of more than 1200 Melbourne students – the Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study (CATS).

CATS project leader, MCRI’s Professor George Patton said it is likely that every Years 3, 4 and 5 classroom in Australia has at least one child experiencing persistent bullying and/or emotional and behavioural issues.

“The report also clearly shows that these problems hamper a child’s learning in Year 3 to 7,” Prof Patton said. “Students with these problems fall about 12 months behind their peers in numeracy in the four years between Years 3 and 7 with similar, although smaller trends, in reading.”

“One in six students disengage from school during the late primary years. A child’s emotional well-being is central to both learning and engagement and should be a focus for all schools and teachers.”

Prof Patton, who is also a Professor of Adolescent Health Research with the University of Melbourne, said these children were a high-risk group.

“The statistics also reveal that children suffering emotional and/or behavioural problems and bullying in primary years were more likely to disengage from learning in secondary school.

“Given that around half of students report some level of emotional problems and over one in five report persistent problems, it needs a greater emphasis in schools and educational policy,” he said.

The report came up with five key recommendations to help children not flourishing in late primary school:

Strengthen the curriculum to continue to build and develop social and emotional skills in children;
Promote and supporting teacher capabilities in this area (in-service and pre-service training). For example, by improving teachers’ knowledge of emotional development across the middle years;
Prioritise policies and practice to promote wellbeing in order to create inclusive and positive social environments in which students can engage effectively with learning and interact positively with other students;
Form partnerships with families and develop strategies to maintain parental engagement about the social and emotional development of their children;
Ensure links with health service systems for students identified with persisting problems.

(Source: Murdoch’s Children Research Institute)

Alcohol advertising rules may fail to protect Australian kids

Alcohol addict looking at glass of whiskey with desire

Regulations introduced to restrict the placement of alcohol advertising are unlikely to reduce young people’s exposure to alcohol marketing in Australia, new research led by Curtin University has found.

The research, published in the Drug and Alcohol Review journal, critically reviewed the placement rules added to the industry-run Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC) Scheme in November 2017 and evaluated their ability to effectively regulate the placement of alcohol marketing in Australia.

Co-author Ms Julia Stafford, from the Alcohol Programs Team at the Public Health Advocacy Institute of WA (PHAIWA) based at Curtin University, said the placement rules do not meet the criteria for effective self-regulation and do not appear to have introduced any additional safeguards for young people.

“The placement rules were introduced to put some restrictions on where alcohol companies could market their products. The rules include requiring advertisers meet other industry codes that apply to the placement of alcohol advertising, market their products to audiences that are at least 75 per cent adults, and ensure alcohol advertising is not placed within programs aimed at minors,” Ms Stafford said.

“We found that they are unlikely to reduce young people’s exposure to alcohol marketing as they are very narrow in scope, exclude key forms of promotion, and place minimal restrictions on marketers. All but one of the 24 placement-related determinations published in the first six months of the placement rules were either dismissed or found to be ‘no fault’ breaches.

“The rules allow alcohol advertising to be broadcast during televised sport on weekends and public holidays, and do little to limit outdoor advertising. Alcohol ads placed in shopping centres, at sports stadiums, on public transport vehicles, and at bus stops or train stations outside of a 150m radius of a school are all consistent with the placement rules.”

First author Ms Hannah Pierce, also from the Alcohol Programs Team at PHAIWA, said the review also identified substantial flaws in the regulatory processes of the placement rules.

“The alcohol and advertising industries were heavily involved in the development of the rules, but there was no evidence of consultation with other stakeholders. There are also no penalties for marketers who breach the rules,” Ms Pierce said.

“Our findings support existing evidence that industry-managed systems fail to effectively regulate alcohol marketing and government intervention is needed if young people’s wellbeing is to be a priority.

“It has now been 12 months since the placement rules were introduced and our research shows that a comprehensive, independent review of the ABAC Scheme is needed.”

The research was also co-authored by researchers from the Public Health Advocacy Institute of WA and the School of Psychology at Curtin University and Cancer Council WA.

The research paper, ‘Regulation of alcohol marketing in Australia” A critical review of the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code Scheme’s new Placement Rules,’ can be found online here.

(Source: Curtin University, Drug and Alcohol Review)

Children in foster care at educational disadvantage

Many of the 48,000 Australian children in foster care may struggle to reach national literacy and numeracy benchmarks, could be at higher risk than their peers of becoming disengaged with schooling, being suspended or expelled, and may struggle long-term with social and economic disadvantage, a QUT study has revealed.

Dr Ruth Knight from QUT’s Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (ACPNS) examined research here and overseas that identifies what puts children in foster and other out-of-home care situations at risk of educational disadvantage, what can protect them, their educational outcomes, existing intervention programs to improve these outcomes, and government policy approaches.

Key findings of her report include:

School disruption due to moving between foster care placements, low self-esteem, trauma, poor access to books, lack of fundamental language and pre-reading skills are some of the factors that pose barriers to children in care engaging in education.
Without effective and early interventions to help with learning, children in care may struggle long-term with substance abuse, criminal behaviour, homelessness, employment, earning potential and other social and economic challenges.
Lack of effective communication and planning between carers, child protection authorities and schools continues to inhibit effective learning interventions and outcomes for children in out-of-home care.

Dr Knight said the ACPNS study, supported by pioneering charity The Pyjama Foundation, found there was a limited number of intervention programs that effectively address protective factors known to improve children’s educational engagement.

“Those protective factors include family stability with a carer who supports educational and extracurricular activities, access to books and other literacy materials, developing literacy skills as early as possible in life, and having adult mentors or tutors for at least 12 months to build cognitive and social skills,” she said.

“The most successful intervention programs for children in care are ones based on positive relationships with teachers, care givers and case workers, which take into account trauma, provide flexible learning, and which support children to genuinely love learning.

“This review shows that there are only a few of these programs available.”

The report found that because of the crisis-driven nature of out-of-home care, often in response to parental abuse and neglect, “education all too often takes a backseat to other, more urgent issues.”

However, Dr Knight concluded that addressing the significant educational disadvantage children in care may face with effective prevention and early intervention programs to encourage learning should be a priority, to prevent disadvantage continuing into adulthood.

The Pyjama Foundation National Program Manager Kevin Gallard welcomed the ACPNS study findings.

“This research provides insight into the current educational landscape for children in care and the need for early intervention and strong supportive relationships,” he said.

“It highlights the strengths of The Pyjama Foundation’s Love of Learning Program, a mentoring program focused on improving literacy, numeracy and life skills.

“The program involves trained volunteer learning mentors, known as Pyjama Angels, meeting regularly and doing one-on-one reading sessions with more than 1400 foster children across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.”

The ACPNS report, Children in out-of-home care and their educational outcomes: a literature review, is available here.

(Source: Queensland University of Technology)

Does a woman’s weight gain during pregnancy affect children’s bone health? | Portugal

closeup pregnant woman standing on scales top view. Controlling weight gain on pregnancy time

A new study has examined whether managing weight during pregnancy might affect children’s bone mass.

In the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research study, investigators analysed prospective data from 2,167 mother-child pairs from Portugal. In under/normal weight mothers, weight gain during pregnancy was associated with slightly increased bone mass at 7 years of age in children, while in overweight/obese mothers, no beneficial effect of weight gain on bone mass was observed.

Given the well-known adverse implications of excessive weight gain during pregnancy for both the mother and child on various aspects of health, following the current recommendations on pregnancy weight gain should not have consequences on children’s skeletal health.

“Until recently, it was a widely held scientific belief that any weight gain from the mother during pregnancy would have a beneficial effect on children’s bone mass. Our study results corroborate that there is no benefit in gaining weight above the US Institute of

Medicine recommendations for pregnancy weight gain for children’s bone mass, in both normal and overweight women prior to pregnancy,” said lead author Dr. Teresa Monjardino, of the Universidade do Porto, in Portugal.

(Source: Wiley, Journal of Bone and Mineral Research)

Don’t change a thing: Bicycle helmet law good road safety policy

Three people biking on a paved path surround by tall grass — Active family riding bikes

Recent calls by lobbyists for changes to the bicycle helmet law are misguided and threaten the safety of Queensland riders according to Professor Narelle Haworth, director of QUT’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q).

“The current law is good road safety policy because it addresses a serious issue in a way that has been scientifically proven to be effective and can be feasibly implemented,” Professor Haworth said.

“Australian research by Dr Jake Olivier, published in 2016, found helmets cut the chances of a head injury by 50 per cent, a serious head injury by 69 per cent and a fatal head injury by 65 per cent. They also reduced the odds of injuries to the face by 33 per cent.

“His study was a meta-analysis of 40 studies worldwide, covering 64,000 injured cyclists, which is pretty comprehensive.”

Professor Haworth added the following reasons why the current law is good policy and should not be changed:

Head injuries are a very serious issue. They often have life-long consequences for individuals and their families. The cost to the community is enormous. It makes sense to focus on preventing head injuries.
Helmets are very effective in preventing or reducing the severity of head injuries. Most scientific studies show reductions of more than 50% regardless of whether a motor vehicle was involved in crash or not. Being off the road doesn’t mean that helmets aren’t needed.
Helmet laws result in high wearing rates. CARRS-Q studies have observed many thousands of bicycle riders across Brisbane and other areas of Queensland and overall wearing rates are greater than 95%. Taking away the requirement to wear a helmet off-road will see fewer riders wearing helmets when they go on the road.
Laws are most effective when they are able to be enforced. It is easy for police to see if a rider is not wearing a bicycle helmet, much easier than to see if a driver is using a mobile phone.
The high wearing rates resulting from helmet laws mean that many bicycle helmets are sold. This has led to bicycle helmets becoming much cheaper in Australia than in countries without a law.

“While opponents of the law say that it discourages people from riding, there is no real evidence to support this,” Professor Haworth said.

“In Australian surveys that have asked people why they don’t ride, concerns about safety top the list. Then there are issues of having to transport children, living too far from work, it being too hot, or too hilly etc. The requirement to wear a bicycle helmet comes a long way down the list of reasons people give for not riding.

“The removal of motorcycle helmet laws in many parts of the United States has led to drops in wearing rates and increases in deaths and injuries. Here in Australia, it would be foolish to step back from bicycle helmet laws that currently are one of the best policy measures to protect riders both on and off the road.”

(Source: Queensland University of Technology)

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