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Abortion in Australia is legal. It has been fully decriminalised in all jurisdictions, starting with Western Australia in 1998 and lastly in South Australia in 2022. Access to abortion varies between the states and territories: surgical abortions are readily available on request within the first 16 to 24 weeks of pregnancy, although with no limit on gestational term in the Australian Capital Territory. Later term abortions generally require the approval of two doctors, though are heavily restricted in Western Australia after 20 weeks.
Since at least the 1980s, opinion polls have shown a majority of Australians support abortion rights, and that support for abortion is increasing. While anti-abortion violence is rare in Australia, anti-abortion activists have used tactics including "verbal abuse, threats and impeding entry" outside abortion clinics. In response, all jurisdictions have enacted laws prohibiting protesters from harassing visitors and staff within a certain radius of abortion clinics, starting with Tasmania in 2013 and lastly with Western Australia in 2021.
A woman's sexual partner is not required to be notified of an abortion, and Australian courts will not grant injunctions to prevent the procedure, even if the applicant is the putative father of the fetus. No waiting periods are imposed on having an abortion. A minor does not need to notify a parent of a proposed abortion nor is parental consent required, except in Western Australia. While abortions are regulated by the states and territories, the procedure is partially funded under the Federal Government public health scheme, Medicare, or by private healthcare insurers. In the case of "a child capable of being born alive" , a termination may be subject to a separate crime of child destruction in some states and territories.