ADOPTION OF CHILDREN ACT 1965 - SECT 19 Persons in whose favour adoption orders may be made

This legislation has been repealed.

ADOPTION OF CHILDREN ACT 1965 - SECT 19

19 Persons in whose favour adoption orders may be made

(1) Except as provided by subsections (1A) and (2), an adoption order shall not be made otherwise than in favour of a husband and wife jointly.

(1A) The Court may make an adoption order in favour of a man and a woman who are living together as husband and wife on a bona fide domestic basis although not married to each other if, without derogating from the other provisions of this Part, the Court is satisfied:

(a) that:

(i) except as provided by subsection (1B), the man and woman have so lived together for a period of not less than 3 years before the date on which the application for the adoption order is made,

(ii) except as provided by subsection (1B), the child in respect of whom the application for the adoption order is made has been brought up, maintained and educated by the applicants as their child for a period of not less than 2 years before the date of the application, and

(iii) the welfare and interests of the child will be better served by the making of an adoption order than by the making of any other order relating to the guardianship or custody of the child,

(b) that:

(i) except as provided by subsection (1B), the man and woman have so lived together for a period of not less than 3 years before the date on which the application for the adoption order is made,

(ii) the child in respect of whom the application for the adoption order is made is a child of a class or description prescribed for the purposes of section 68A (1), and

(iii) having regard to the disability or special needs of the child, it is not likely that the welfare and interests of the child will be better served by any other placement of the child, or

(c) that:

(i) the man and woman are Aborigines (within the meaning of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 ) and are recognised as being married according to the traditions of an Aboriginal community or Aboriginal group to which they belong, and

(ii) the child in respect of whom the application for the adoption order is made is an Aboriginal (within the meaning of that Act).

(1B) Where the Court is of the opinion that, having regard to the circumstances of the case, the welfare and interests of the child will be better served by doing so, the Court may make an adoption order referred to in subsection (1A) even though:

(a) the man and woman who are living together on a bona fide domestic basis although not married to each other have so lived together for a period of less than 3 years, or

(b) the child in respect of whom the application for the adoption order is made has not been brought up, maintained and educated by the applicants as their child for a period of not less than 2 years,

before the date of the application, or where the circumstances described in paragraphs (a) and (b) both apply.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), where the Court is satisfied that in the particular circumstances of the case it is desirable so to do, the Court may make an adoption order in favour of one person.

(3) The Court shall not make an adoption order in favour of one person if that person is married and is not living separately and apart from his or her spouse unless that person's spouse consents in writing to the application for the adoption order.

(4) The Court may make an adoption order in favour of a husband and wife jointly or a man and a woman referred to in subsection (1A) jointly notwithstanding that one of them is a natural parent, or that they are the natural parents, of the child.