Adoption is one of a range of options used to provide care for children who cannot live with their birth families. It is the process whereby the legal relationship between a child and their biological parents is severed, and the legal rights of the child are as if he/ she had been born to the adoptive parents.
78% decline
in adoptions in Australia in the last 25 years
Almost 50%
of adoptions were intercountry (from overseas)
3 in 5
adopted children were under 5 years of age
86%
of adopted children who came from overseas were from Asia
3 to 6.5 years
is the typical wait time for families wishing to adopt a child from overseas
3 in 5
Australian birth mothers were aged under 25 years
95%
of Australian adoptions were ‘open’ (that is, all parties agreed to some contact)
95%
of ‘known’ adoptions were by step-parents and non-relative carers (such as foster carers)
