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:
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.
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Western Australian Government Gazette No.127', in Western Australian Government Gazette Online Archive, State Law Publisher of Western Australia, 24 October 1986, https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/prod/gazettestore.nsf/FileURL/gg1986_127.pdf/$FILE/Gg1986_127.pdf?OpenElement; Elphick, Ron J and Glennis Dees, The adoption jigsaw : an account of the compassionate understanding and support given to those whose lives were affected by past adoption practices and of the 20 year struggle in Western Australia to break the conspiracy of silence surrounding adoption by changing attitudes, customs, laws and practices, 1978-1998., R. Elphick, Perth, 2000; Law Research Service, Melbourne Law School, Law Library, The University of Melbourne. 'Find and Connect Project - Western Australia Legislation', 13 December 2013, held in the project files at the University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre.
Prepared by: Debra Rosser
Created: 22 June 2012, Last modified: 16 October 2018