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adoption
This page considers privacy aspects of adoption regimes
of the Australian states, the Northern Territory and Australian
Capital Territory.
It covers -
introduction
As we have noted in discussing
questions about the body and privacy, attitudes towards
adoption have undergone significant change in many countries,
including Australia. That change has been reflected in
amendment of legislation and codes of practice that restricted
access to information about the biological parents of
adopted children and the circumstances in which adoption
took place.
Adoption is a state/territory responsibility, under the
umbrella of the federal Family Law Act 1975.
The federal Act is examined in Family Law in Australia
(Sydney: Butterworths 1997) by H. Finlay, Rebecca Bailey-Harris
& Margaret Otlowski, complemented by To Search
for Self: The experience of access to adoption information
(Leichhardt: Federation Press 1997) edited by Phillip
& Shurlee Swain.
Historical context is provided by The Many-Sided Triangle:
Adoption in Australia (Carlton South: Melbourne Uni
Press 2001) by Audrey Marshall & Margaret McDonald.
A broader view of statute and case law is provided in
Family Law in Australia (Chatswood: Butterworths
2006) by Geoff Monahan & Lisa Young.
All states/territories have legislation that grants certain
information rights to adopted people over the age of 17
and to their adoptive and birth families.
access to adoption information
The extent of those rights and privacy protection varies
from one jurisdiction to another, as does information
services (including contact registers and differing arrangements
for mandatory or non-mandatory counselling before information
is provided).
In several states it is possible for a party to an adoption
to gain a one-time or recurrent veto on release of information
or on contact (eg in Victoria it is an offence for the
information recipient to try to make contact with the
person who imposed the contact veto).
The Adoptions Australia 2002-03 report (PDF)
notes that there were 472 adoptions of children in Australia
during 2002-03. Around 3,740 requests for information
were made, of which 73% were by adopted children, 17%
by birth parents and 2% by a child of an adopted person.
Some 137 contact and identifying information vetoes were
lodged during the year, with 9,930 vetoes in place (of
which 53% were by an adopted person and 38% by the birth
mother).
the legislation
The primary legislation regarding adoptions is -
- Adoption
Act 1993 (ACT) - here
- Adoption
Act 2000 (NSW) - here
- Adoption
of Children Act (NT) here
- Adoption
of Children Act 1964 (Qld) - here
- Adoption
Act 1988 (SA) - here
- Adoption
Act 1988 (Tas) - here
- Adoption
Act 1984 (Vic) - here
- Adoption
Act 1994 (WA) - here
registers
State/territory registers are highlighted here.
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