Adoption Numbers Rise Across Australia

The number of children being adopted in Australia appears to be on the rise after experiencing a long-term downward trend. 

NSW Family & Community Services describes adoption as ‘permanently transferring all the legal rights and responsibilities of being a parent from the child's birth parents (or anyone with parental responsibility for the child) to the adoptive parents’.

According to figures released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 315 children were adopted in Australia in 2016–17, up from 278 a year earlier, which was the lowest number on record.

Known child adoptions now make up almost two-thirds (65%, or 204 adoptions) of all adoptions in Australia, up from about 18% (or 104 adoptions) a decade earlier.

“This year’s rise in numbers was driven by an increase in ‘known child’ adoptions—that is, adoptions of children already known to the adoptive parents,” explained AIHW spokesperson Louise York. “Of these known child adoptions, most—70%—were by carers, such as foster parents.”

Thirteen per cent, or 42 adoptions, were what are known as ‘local’ adoptions, or adoptions of Australian children who are not already known to their adoptive parents.

A further 69 adoptions (22% of all adoptions) were of children from countries outside Australia, known as ‘intercountry’ adoptions.

Taiwan was apparently the most common country of origin for intercountry adoptions, accounting for 35%. This was followed by the Philippines (26%), South Korea (20%) and Thailand (15%).

The time parents wait to adopt a child from outside Australia has fallen in recent years. The average time from when parents first became a client of the department responsible for adoptions in their state or territory to when a child was placed with them was two years and nine months in 2016–17, down from five years and four months in 2014–15.

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