In June 2018 Australian Senates Senate Community Affairs References Committee recommended a move towards legalising MRT, and in July 2018 the Australian senate endorsed it. Research and clinical applications of MRT were overseen by laws made by federal and state governments. State laws were, for the most part, consistent with federal law. In all states, legislation prohibited the use of MRT techniques in the clinic, and except for Western Australia, research on a limited range of MRT was permissible up to day 14 of embryo development, subject to a license being granted. In 2010, the Hon. Mark Butler MP, then Federal Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, had appointed an independent committee to review the two relevant acts: the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2002 and the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002. The committees report, released in July 2011, recommended the existing legislation remain unchanged. The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council issued two reports on legalising MRT in June 2020. In 2022, Maeve's Law was passed by the Australian Parliament, legalising MRT under a specified mitochondrial donation licence for research and training, and in clinical settings.
Singapore was also considering whether to permit the MRT in 2018.
In 2018, researchers announced the use of MRT to restore function to heart tissue in cardiac-compromised newborns. The damaged heart cells absorbed mitochondria extracted from healthy tissue and returned to useful activity.