current adoption news

July 2011

latest developments

Commonwealth (Federal) inquiry into adoption

On 15 November 2010, the Senate of the Parliament of Australia (in Canberra) referred the following matter to the (Federal) Senate Community Affairs Committees for inquiry and report:

“Commonwealth contribution to former forced adoption policies and practices”

See further information about this inquiry. 

Surrogacy legislation

NSW’s first stand-alone surrogacy law was introduced into the NSW Parliament on 21 October 2010. This is to assist heterosexual and same-sex couples with surrogate children to gain full legal recognition as parents and clarify the existing prohibition on commercial surrogacy.

The draft bill is largely based on new national model provisions developed by the Standing Committee of Attorneys General. There will be a conscience vote on the issue.

Trends in intercountry adoption

The number of intercountry adoptions has decreased worldwide over the past few years as overseas countries are better able to provide for their children in their own country. This has meant significantly increased waiting times for families who have put themselves forward to adopt a child from overseas.

For example, the last family group who sent adoption applications to China waited four years and three months for adoption proposals, from the time their adoption application was received and registered in China.

We recognise this waiting period is extremely difficult for families and encourage them to be in touch with their intercountry adoption support organisation and other families in their same situation. 

If anyone wishes to speak to an adoption caseworker they can email: intercountry@community.nsw.gov.au and let us know what is the best time and number to ring on and someone will contact you.

Families adopting from overseas should regularly access the website of the Australian Government’s Attorney-General’s Department.  

upcoming events

(Events given coverage in this publication do not necessarily represent the view of the Minister or Chief Executive of Community Services. The accuracy or currency of information regarding these events is the responsibility of the individual organisations.)

country news

China

China Centre of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) has changed its name to China Centre for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) effective 15 February 2011.

The CCCWA will continue to be responsible for dealing with Intercountry adoptions and will assume the responsibility of developing, managing, and maintaining the National System of Information Management for Child Welfare.

There has been an update to CCCWA’s online system regarding document processing information. CCCWA have finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with their office before 30 November 2010. 

The placement information remains the same, that is, CCCWA have finished the placement of children with families whose adoption application documents were registered with CCCWA before 30 June 2006.

Family group forty-six received adoption proposals from China in June 2011. These families waited five years from the time they sent their file to China. The previous group waited four years and nine months.

Due to the extended waiting times and the resulting decline in the number of China adoption applications lodged, NSW has been forwarding individual applications to China.

NSW sent four individual applications to China in 2010 and no applications to date in 2011. 

CCCWA new post placement requirements

On 21 April 2011, CCCWA advised of new requirements for the content and frequency of post placement reports, for those families who receive a Notice to Travel (NTT) after 1 August 2011.

Families who receive a NTT after 1 August  2011 will be required to have six post placement reports completed in respect of their child over a five year period.

APCS will contact all families who will be impacted by this new requirement.

Korea

Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS) issued Australia with a national quota of 25 adoption applications (dossiers) for 2010. Find more about the quota.

Increased fees

Due to the reduction in exit permits, children are spending more time in care before commencing the adoption process. This has increased costs in relation to foster care, medical care, feeding, clothing, diapers and transportation. The increased fees will only be applied to new applications – not current applications in Korea. Find more about the fees.

Travel delays

ESWS has indicated that it has yet to receive its exit permit quota for 2011 from the South Korean Government (but is able to receive new applications from Australia).

This means it is not possible to know how many exit permits ESWS will issue to the Australian program for 2011.

It is possible that the number of exit permits issued to Australia will be lower than the number of applications currently in Korea and this will result in continued travel delays for adoptive parents in the 2010 and 2011 application quotas.

If you have any queries regarding your adoption application, please contact us on 9716 3004 or Intercountry.Adoption@dhs.nsw.gov.au.

NSW has received five adoption proposals in 2011 to date, all of which were from the 2010 quota. Families interested in lodging a new application through ESWS should speak with a caseworker in the intercountry adoption team.

For further details about this update please see the Attorney-General's Department website

Philippines

The Intercountry Adoption Board of the Philippines (ICAB) has informed all of its partner countries that they will not be accepting applications from foreign adoption agencies that have sent 10 or more applications per year for the past three years (2008-2010).

ICAB has confirmed that each State and Territory Central Authority in Australia is considered to be a separate foreign adoption agency in this matter.

ICAB has introduced this measure to enable them to address the protracted waiting period for child placement and manage the large number of applications they have received from prospective adoptive parents.

The Attorney-General’s Department has contacted ICAB to discuss this matter. ICAB has advised that the only Australian jurisdiction affected by the temporary moratorium is New South Wales who have been requested by ICAB to temporarily refrain from sending new applications.

Prospective adoptive parents who have been approved by the New South Wales Central Authority to adopt from the Philippines prior to 31 January 2011 will not be affected.

If you have specific questions about this information please contact the caseworker, Sally Brokensha and if she is not available please ask to speak with another caseworker in the team.

For further details about this update please see the Attorney-General's Department website.

NSW has received three adoption proposals in 2011 to date.

Bolivia

The firm view of the Bolivian government remains that local communities should be able to care for Bolivian children whose birth families are unable to care for them.

Intercountry adoption will be considered as the last option for children who need families.

Families interested in adopting from Bolivia should speak with caseworker, Sally Brokensha.

Colombia

Expansion of Colombia program to all States and Territories

The Colombia-Australia intercountry adoption program is now open for applications from suitable families across Australia.

Historically, this program mainly operated between Colombian private houses (government authorised orphanages) and the NSW Central Authority with specified services provided by Australian Families for Children. 

This arrangement will continue, however applicants of NSW are also able to apply through this new arrangement if they wish. This new arrangement will have some differences in how it operates, but eligibility criteria and legal procedures will be the same.

All families considering lodging an application for Colombia are encouraged to contact Anjali Russell at Community Services in the first instance and Australian Families for Children (AFC) for enquiries related specifically to adoption from the two Colombian private houses, Chiquitines and La Casita.

Ethiopia

Update on the Ethiopia–Australia intercountry adoption program

The Australian Central Authority is pleased to introduce Woz (Ms) Lemlem Fesseha as the incoming Australian Representative for the Australia-Ethiopia intercountry adoption program. Woz Lemlem has been engaged as the Program Manager pending her appointment as the new Australian Representative from 1 April 2011.

As Australian Representative, Woz Lemlem will oversee the management of the program and perform core functions such as accepting Australian files and referrals of children, matching, progressing cases through intercountry adoption procedures and immigration and communicating with Australian Central Authorities.

To support Woz Lemlem, the Department is engaging an experienced, Hague-accredited, adoption service provider in Ethiopia to provide administrative and ancillary services necessary for the ethical and effective management of the program. This includes a range of new services to the program including background checking of children and development assistance projects.

The program will continue to operate under the existing 1994 bilateral arrangement while the Department works with Ethiopian authorities to update the documentation to better reflect contemporary practices in both countries.

Families with approved files in Ethiopia

Families with active files in Ethiopia may be allocated a child who has been recently referred to the Australian program.

Not all families will receive an allocation from the current referrals. The NSW Central Authority (APCS) has commenced contacting all families with active files in Ethiopia to discuss arrangements for the payment of fees and updating of documents so that they are current in the event that an allocation is made.

Families with approved files in Australia

These files will remain in Australia pending further developments in relation to the program.

The Department will monitor the progress of the first new referrals to the program before making a decision about sending replacement files.

If you have any questions about how this information will affect your case, or you wish to discuss a new adoption application enquiry about this program please contact Caseworker, Sally Brokensha.

India

A delegation from the Federal Attorney-General’s Department travelled to India earlier this year.

The objectives of the visit to India were to discuss a range of policy and operational matters and explore existing and potential safeguards. The delegation also sought information to enable further decisions to be made about the future operation of the program.

The visit provided the opportunity to strengthen working relationships with authorities in India.

For more details, see the report on the outcome of the delegation by the Australian Central Authority.

NSW has not processed any adoption proposals from India this year.

Enquiries about the India program should be directed to Caseworker, Elizabeth Amit on 9716 3004.

See the Attorney-General's website for more information.

Lithuania

The Lithuania program remains a small program for placements of older aged children and sibling groups who generally have complex needs.

For further information about the Lithuania program, please contact Elizabeth Amit, Lithuania Program Caseworker on 9716 3004.

Taiwan

Christian Salvation Service (CSS) encourage families to be flexible in their openness about the needs of a child they feel able to parent.

Families wishing to adopt a child with an uncomplicated background will have to wait a significantly longer time for placement, as CSS advised these children are placed with couples seeking local adoption in Taiwan.

Families should note, CSS has a policy requiring that both adoptive applicants must hold Australian citizenship before they can be accepted into the program.

Fees: CSS has recently advised that its adoption fee will increase from US$10,000 to US$12,000. The increase in fees is required to enable CSS to continue to provide the highest quality care to children in need of adoptive families and social support services within the community.

The new fee will apply to all families with files at CSS awaiting allocation as well as all new files yet to be sent. The adoption fee for children with special needs will continue to be determined on a case by case basis.

NSW continues to work with the Chung Yi Child Welfare Foundation in a limited capacity, with a quota of two adoption applications in three categories: two applications for children 0-2 years; two applications for children 2-5 years; and two applications for children over 5 years and children with special needs.

New files in each age category can be sent only once an adoption proposal has been received in that age category.

Currently there is a waiting list for applications for children 0-2 years.

Families who are interested in adopting from Taiwan are encouraged to speak with a caseworker to discuss eligibility criteria before confirming their decision. This will allow for non identifying pre screening to be undertaken where it is unclear whether applicants meet the eligibility criteria of the agency. 

For more information, please contact Caseworker, Yee Fun Rebecca Lau on 9716 3004.

Thailand

Thailand delegation

A delegation from the Attorney-General’s Department travelled to Thailand earlier this year.

Discussions regarding the program and the status of the current moratorium on new applications for intercountry adoptions were undertaken. The visit also provided the opportunity to strengthen working relationships with authorities in Thailand.

For a full report see: www.ag.gov.au.

Thailand has advised that families will wait at least three years from the time they lodge their application in Thailand to when they are likely to receive an adoption proposal.

NB: Please see the statistics page for up-to-date country program statistics.

feedback

Your feedback on this newsletter, or what you would like to see in it, is welcome. If you have any comments, email them to adoption@community.nsw.gov.au

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