Adoption Australia : Petitioning the Government to activate changes approved in Nov 2005

The Australian intercountry adoption system has been in crisis for many years.

There are more than an estimated eleven million orphaned and abandoned children in the world, yet Australia has the 2nd lowest adoption rate in the developed world.

In the Standing Committee on Family and Human Services Inquiry report on Overseas Adoption in Australia released by Committee Chair, Bronwyn Bishop, in November 2005, numerous issues were raised with the path to resolution clearly outlined. Enlightened recommendations were made, approved by the then government and implementation was begun. However, it seems activities have stopped since the announcement of the election in late 2007 and the election of the Rudd government.

The bottom line is that there should be more children adopted into Australian families.

In addition, the process needs to be more accessible, affordable and streamlined.

There are numerous issues that need urgent attention and action. We have identified what we feel to be the major initial changes required, and to this end we call on the Federal Government to act with haste on the following:

**The Federal Government should as a matter of urgency implement the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Family and Human Services report Nov 2005 - click to download a copy of the recommendations - see page 17.

**The Federal Government should without further delay, finalise and distribute for consultation, the revised Commonwealth /State agreement (Recommendation 1 of Standing Committee on Family and Human Services report Nov 2005 - click to download a copy of the recommendations - see page 17.

**While a start has been made by the Attorney Generals Department, the Federal Government should expedite the establishment of new adoption programs and increase the number of countries from which Australians are permitted to adopt. NGOs should be involved in the program establishment process.

**The Federal Government should establish a national accreditation system to enable NGOs to deliver adoption services. Seed funding should be provided to enable NGOs to establish accredited adoption agencies.

**The Federal Government should quickly complete the establishment of the national peak body for adoption support organisations.

**The Federal Government should waive the present $1200 Australian entry visa fees for the adopted children.

**As promised prior to the election, the Federal Government should remove the age limit for adopted children in relation to the maternity allowance. (Recommendation 9 of Standing Committee on Family and Human Services report Nov 2005) - click to download a copy of the recommendations - see page 17.

**The Federal Government should introduce legislation that will allow the issuing of an Australian birth certificate to all adoptees. (Recommendation 12 of Standing Committee on Family and Human Services report Nov 2005)

**The Federal Government should offer tax deductions or offsets for adoption expenses.

**The Federal Government should act to ensure that adoption laws and criteria are consistent in all states and are compatible with internationally accepted standards. This should include the adoption of older children and sibling groups, disclosure of information regarding waiting children and adoption by single applicants.

**Adoptive families should be acknowledged as equal to families with biological children in regard to work leave benefits & entitlements.

Urgent changes need to be made to the adoption system in Australia. There are thousands of voters who are very angry about the present adoption system. An in depth investigation was held in 2005 and the report received bipartisan approval. The Federal Government needs to urgently implement the long overdue changes.