Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Commissioner is changing the way prenatal testing results for Down syndrome are delivered.

The commissioner is responding to a complaint about the use of negative terminology such as “risk” during a diagnosis.

The review found that the use of negative language could breach the Anti-Discrimination Act.

The change could flow into national prenatal testing rules.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has updated its guidelines, calling for more neutral terminology like “chance” or “probability”.

Down Syndrome Australia chairman Angus Graham said it was a good move.

“‘Risk’ is one of those terms which has a negative connotation,” he told reporters.

“It's important when expecting parents are delivered a positive result that they received balanced... information, that is accurate.”

Australian Medical Association president Dr Michael Gannon agreed, but said doctors may take some time to adapt.

“I think it'll require a significant proportion of change. Every day thousands of doctor-patient consultations around Australia currently would refer to the risk of down syndrome,” he said.