Information on Family Adoption
Welcome to Adoption Australia. The following is a little more information on what is involved.

Family adoption can mean two thing. I can mean the adoption of a child that is all ready apart of your family or a relation, or i can just be the term people use when they talk about a adopting any child. All adoptions in Australia are public even when you are adopting step children, or other children within your family. In some state you cannot have family adoptions but a different legal status such as a permanent care order. Local adoptions usually follow a four step format:

Initial screening
Workshop, application and assessment
Allocation and placement
Post adoption order

International adoptions are a little more complicated and vary from state to state but usually follow a process like this:

1 enquiry
2 education program
3aplication, assessment and approval
4 home study, waiting and matching
5 travel to meet and pick up child
6 supervision and application for child to receive Australian citizenship
7 completion – 1 year after receiving child both governments will finalise adoption

Adoption can be wonderful thing and the joy and love a child bring cannot be measured in time or money, however if you are unsure of the process you could chew through both resources quickly. It is important that you do this once and get it right the first time.

If you have any questions on Family Adoption or about other issues involved with adoption, please fill in the form on our services page.