CHILDREN BY CHOICE ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

Adoption

Adoption is no longer a common occurrence in Australian society. There has been a substantial decline in the number of adoptions since the early 1970’s. In 1971-72 there were 9798 adoptions, which declined to 1052 in 1991-92. In 2005-06 there were 576 adoptions in Australia. Of these adoptions: 

• 73% of adoptions were ‘intercountry’ adoptions (children from overseas countries, which is generally arranged by the relevant state government agency), 
• 16% were ‘known’ child adoptions i.e. children adopted by step-parents, carers or other relatives,
• 10% were local placement adoptions i.e. adoption of children of Australian birth or permanent residency where there was no previous contact or relationship with the adoptive parents.

Age of the children when adopted

In the case of intercountry adoptions the majority of children were aged under 5 years, with over half being less than one.  Over two-thirds of the adoptions were from China, South Korea, and Ethiopia (in decreasing order).

In the majority of ‘known’ child adoptions, the children were aged over 10 years.

In the majority of local placement adoptions, the children were aged under 1 year.

Profile of birth mothers placing children for adoption

The average age of women placing a child for adoption was 27.  In 88% of cases, the birth mother was unmarried.  95% of birth mothers wished to having some ongoing information exchange about their child. 33% of adoptions had consent from both birth parents.

Who can adopt

The number of people wishing to adopt a child in Australia is far greater than the number of children available for adoption.  People who are accepted by adoption services agencies as suitable may have to wait many years before being able to adopt. In Queensland, NT and Tasmania only married people are able to adopt under local placement and intercountry adoptions. In other states and territories in Australia, married and defacto couples are eligible to adopt. In NSW, Victoria, WA, SA and the ACT single people may be eligible to adopt in certain circumstances. People wishing to adopt must generally undergo quite rigorous screening processes to access their parenting capacity, age, health status, reasons for wanting to adopt, and relationship stability. 

In the case of intercountry adoptions, the country from where the child is being adopted may have certain requirements. As well, the cost of intercountry adoptions incurred by the adoptive parents can be substantial, ranging from $10,000 - $30,000.

State-based adoption figures 2005-06

Qld – 82   NSW – 149   Vic – 131   WA – 62   SA – 72   ACT - 30   Tas - 35   NT - 15 

State based adoption agencies

The Queensland Adoption procedure and links to state based adoption agencies are detailed in our Adoption section for clients.

This statistics are resourced from the full statistical publication of AIHW