What is Adoption?
Adoption is one of the options used to provide permanent care when a child is unable to live with their birth family. Adoption is a legal process where once an adoption order is made, all of the legal rights and responsibilities of the birth family and transferred over to the adoptive parents. Once the adoption order has been made, it then becomes permanent. If you are thinking about international or Australian adoption, then you can be assured to know that there are processes put into place to ensure that the adoption process not only is in the best interests of the child but also protect the rights of the birth and adoptive parents.

What types of adoption are there?
For people looking at Australian adoption, there are two main types of adoption. These include adopting a child in your local state or territory or from an overseas country which is commonly known as international adoption.

How do I adopt from an overseas country?
Australia has worked hard to establish agreements with a number of countries which you can apply for Australian adoption from. Australia has also worked hard to ensure that adoption is in the child's best interests and that no children are being exploited throughout the process. Australia is also a signatory to a number international agreements including the Hague Convention on International Adoption which aims to prevent the abduction, selling or trafficking of children.

What are my options for Australian adoption?
For Australian adoption, each state or territory has its own adoption authority which is responsible for arranging Australian adoption. In order to be eligible for international or Australian adoption, there are a number of processes that you will need to go through including meeting the eligibility criteria as well as going through an in-depth assessment stage. If you are deemed to be an eligible adoptive parents you will then enter the children placement stage of the adoption process where either your Australian adoption authority or the international authority will work to match children with your family.