The provisions of the Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1980 provided that a child aged over 12 years would now be consulted about which surname she or he wanted to have - the surname of the 'adopting parent' or the 'original' surname. The court would follow the child's wishes, unless the Judge found that would not be in the child's best interests.
The amendments also gave the Director responsible for child welfare the ability to 'supervise the welfare and interests' of a child who had been adopted overseas (by parents who were not citizens of that country) for the first 12 months after they came to Australia.
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The Find & Connect Support Service can help people who lived in orphanages and children's institutions look for their records.
Last updated:
30 November 2021
Cite this: http://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/wa/WE00671
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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