NEW ADOPTION LAWS BUT NOT FAR ENOUGH

KAREN M GOUGH

HARRINGTON FAMILY LAWYERS

The Queensland Government has now introduced the Adoption Bill to Parliament which was expressly designed to remove discrimination against de facto couples but only if you are heterosexual. This new bill replaces the Adoption of Children Act 1964 and overrides the Anti-Discrimination Act and perhaps you could be excused for thinking that was on purpose.

During the reading of the bill, the Minister for Child Safety and Women, Margaret Keech said that the new bill reflects contemporary standards and that no longer would Queensland have the most restrictive adoption laws in the country. The new adoption laws will allow for a child's birth and adoptive families to know each other from the time of the adoption or choose to have a closed arrangement until the child turns 18 years.

Adoption orders will be made by the Court as opposed to the current system where adoption orders are an administrative procedure and the court will be able to make an order preventing the release of someone's identifying information to another person if doing so would pose an unacceptable risk of harm.

Heterosexual de facto couples wishing to lodge expressions of interest need to have been in a relationship for at least two years. The bill does make changes to the antiquated adoption consent requirements which include currently a father only required to consent to his child's adoption if he is married to the child's mother, either at the time the child was conceived or at the time of adoption.

The Bill will require a child's mother, father and any legal guardian to give informed and voluntary consent before a child can be placed for adoption, regardless of marital status. The Bill also requires the Department to give a man thought to be a child's father information about determining paternity, consent to the child's adoption or seek a Family Court order in relation to his parenting the child, if he wishes to do so.

The Minister concluded that she was “proud this Bill is a very progressive piece of new legislation which will bring Queensland's adoption practice in line with international best practice”.

Obviously Western Australian and the ACT must be way ahead of the times.