Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1985, Western Australia

The Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1985 (Act 1985/108) which came into effect on 24 October 1986, had a number of significant developments, relating to the registration of private adoption agencies, and access to adoption information.

The Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1985 provided that:

• ‘Private adoption agencies’ could register and arrange adoptions under the Act. Only those organisations which operated for ‘religious, charitable or welfare purposes’ could apply to register. Organisations that operated ‘for profit’ were excluded.
• People who had been adopted were allowed access to identifying information, with a requirement for counselling before being granted access (this came into effect from 24 April 1986).
• The Adoption Contact Register which had been operating since the early 1980s was brought into law (from 24 April 1986). Access to information would be denied if their was a ‘veto’ on the Contact Register.
• A registered social worker was required to report that ‘all reasonable endeavours’ had been used to ‘re-establish’ the child with his/her birth parents before an adoption order could be granted in some circumstances.

The amendments also included a suite of regulations about how the Act would operate, including the placement of children with ‘special needs’.

In granting approval to register a private adoption agency, the Minister was also given the discretion to inquire into the ‘qualifications, experience, character’ and number of staff and the governance structure of the proposed adoption agency. It was also necessary for organisations arranging adoptions to supply people with written alternatives to adoption before obtaining consent. In the case where a private adoption agency was de-registered, all records relating to adoptions arranged during their period of operation were to become the property of the Director-General for Community Services.