A court has given an Adelaide woman permission to use her dead husband's sperm to attempt artificial insemination, but she will have to travel interstate to undergo the procedure due to strict state legislation.

The woman's husband died in a car accident in 2011, but the woman was granted permission by the Supreme Court in South Australia to take sperm from him for storage, after proving they had planned on starting a family.

Last year, she sought access to the sperm to allow her to try in vitro fertilisation.

Justice Tom Gray granted her permission, but the matter was brought back on because the dead man's parents had not been consulted.

They approved of the idea but Attorney-General John Rau informed the court that under state legislation, providers could not legally carry out assisted reproductive services unless the sperm was taken before the man's death, the woman proved she was infertile, and the man consented prior to his death to his sperm being used for reproductive purposes.

Justice Gray has now granted access to the sperm but only to a provider in the Australian Capital Territory, where there is no legislative barrier to the procedure.

"The court was informed that the proposed course of treatment could proceed in the Australian Capital Territory," Justice Gray said.

"The (ACT) clinic required the provision of material to make out a prima facie case that the applicant and the deceased were planning a family together.

"I was satisfied that the deceased did intend to have a family with the applicant and that that intention was made known to others and was evidenced in writing."

However, Justice Gray said it remained a question for those providing treatment in the ACT to reach their own conclusion.

"Unlike South Australia, with its Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act, the Australian Capital Territory does not have specific legislation to regulate the provision of assisted reproductive technology," he said.

"Instead, it is a matter for accreditation by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee of the Fertility Society of Australia, which sets the standards for practice.

"The Committee requires compliance with guidelines promulgated by the Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council, entitled the Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technology in Clinical Practice and Research 2007.

"The guidelines do not, however, have legislative force.

"As a result, in the Australian Capital Territory, there is no legislated consequence for failing to comply with the guidelines; compliance is relevant for accreditation purposes only."