Records of the Anglicare Adoption Services

This Archival Collection contains records relating to Anglicare Adoption Services, previously known as Carramar Adoption Agency from 1961 to 1965 , then known as the Church of England Adoption Agency from 1965 to 1978 before changing its name a third time to the Anglican Adoption Agency from 1978 to 1997. The records in this archival collection date back to 1961.

Access Conditions

Access to the records in this collection is based around the Adoption Act 2000. For plain language information on what this means for you the New South Wales Government has created two sets of fact sheets. One for adoptions before 2010 and one for all adoptions after 2010. links to these factsheets are provided below under “Publications”.

Depending on your age (if you are under 18), if you are a relative or an individual who experienced adoption directly and on the time of your adoption experience you will have different kinds of access to records in this collection. As such people wishing to access records in this collection should contact Anglicare to find out what access conditions apply to them.

Records

The records in this archival collection have been divided into four archival series or groups:

The records in this archival collection have been divided into four archival series or groups:

Adoption files, 1961-present (1961 – )

This series contains adoption files from 1961 to the present about adoptions which involved Anglicare Adoption Services under its various names. The series comprises over 2000 files and is held at the Anglicare Offices in Telopea New South Wales.

The records in this series contain comprehensive information about adoptive parents, birth parents and people who were adopted. This information includes birth names, medical records, home assessment reports, dates of adoption, demographic information about birth and adoptive parents (such as education and hobbies) and social worker reports.

This series also contains correspondence and other records.
Anglicare also holds a small number of files for children who were reunited with their birth mothers or who passed away before placement for adoption.

Adoption special needs files (1985 – )

The Adoption Special Needs Files are arranged alphabetically by surname of the adoptive parents. They relate to children with disabilities or special care needs and include medical and psychiatric reports, information on birth and foster parents, and details of the home or institution the child has been placed in.

Files of Carramar residents who kept their children (1961 – 1965)

The files relate to 88 birth mothers who chose not to relinquish their child or children for adoption. The information contained on the files includes the name of the mother and child or children, date of birth, and address at the time of the application. They are filed alphabetically under the surname of the child’s birth parents. These files are incomplete as very few applications have been kept by the agency.

Register of adoptive and birth parents (1961 – )

The Register records information such as: the name of the birth mother; the date of birth and sex of the child; and the names of the adoptive parents. The register is arranged chronologically according to the child’s date of birth.