Adoptions fall to 30-year low amid court delays, border closures

Adoption in Australia has dropped to its lowest level in three decades as services say pandemic family court delays and border closures have resulted in a backlog of cases amid a general downward trend.

There were 264 adoptions finalised in Australia in 2020–21, the fewest since national reporting began in 1990–91.

Adoptions from overseas in 2019-20 and 2020-21 were the lowest on record, although these have been in decline since the late 2000s.

In its report, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare said COVID-19 travel restrictions and the pandemic’s impact on visa applications likely contributed to the low number of inter-country adoptions finalised in the past two years, and noted they may appear in next year’s data.

Renée Carter, chief executive of Adopt Change, said the drop in numbers was “concerning”.

“We know there has been an impact from the COVID environment, however permanency is more important than ever,” she said. “It is critical we recognise our responsibility to provide a home for every child.”

The biggest change was in adoptions where the child is known by the adoptive parents - typically adoptions by foster carers - which dropped from 249 in 2019-20 to 183 in 2020-21.

However, the AIHW said this was mostly due to a decline in NSW, where carer adoptions rose significantly last year following amendments to legislation in 2018.

“COVID certainly has had an impact on the courts because they went online, so there have been delays and backlogs,” said Barnardos chief executive Deirdre Cheers.

“But the bigger driver, which is not new, is that child protection workers are not prioritising adoption, possibly because of the historical implications.”

Ms Cheers said Barnardos had 40 to 50 families on its books in NSW hoping to adopt a child. The organisation facilitated 33 adoptions during the 2020-21 financial year; all were open adoptions, meaning the children still have contact with their birth families.

While adoption was not right for all children – particularly Indigenous children and children who can be returned to their homes – Ms Cheers said young children were being disadvantaged by long wait times when “time is of the essence”.

Ms Carter agreed. “There are not enough carer homes for children who are not able to remain safely with their family of origin, and there are not enough children being provided with the stability of adoption when they have been living with a family for many years,” she said.

Associate Professor Amy Conley Wright, director of the University of Sydney’s Research Centre for Children and Families, did not believe the pandemic had a significant impact on the decline in adoptions, noting it has been a trend for several years.

“There’s a lot of caution about using adoption in the out-of home care system in Australia, and that is a result of past harms, through the Stolen Generation,” she said.

“Particularly with inter-country adoption, [the] decline is a global phenomenon and is the result of the development of local solutions so that children do not need to be taken away from their culture.”

Dr Conley Wright said given the bulk of adoptions in Australia now followed established foster arrangements, adoption often did not mean a change in a child’s care.

But for the Flynn family from Minchinbury in western Sydney, their adoption day in March 2020 is celebrated “like a family birthday”.

Chris, 57, and Sharon, 56, had adult children from previous marriages but wanted to raise a family together. They had initially pursued international adoption, but learnt while completing a course run by an agency that there were opportunities to take in children for permanent care locally.

The couple became carers for siblings Michael, 13, Jamie, 8, Johnathon, 7, and Peter, 5, when Peter was just one year old. Three years later, the brothers – who had never had the opportunity to live together before – were adopted.

“It felt like a little bit of a long path,” Mrs Flynn said of the legal process.

An adoptee himself, Mr Flynn said it was important to the family - particularly their eldest son - to receive legal recognition. “Being able to give them that stability ... was well worth it,” he said.

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