Northern Territory Consolidated Acts

ADOPTION OF CHILDREN ACT - SCHEDULE 1

Section 8(2)

With regard to the matters of ethnicity and religion in determining the welfare and interests of a child, the Minister and the Court shall take into account the following principles:

(1) it is preferable that the child should be placed with a family that has the same ethnic and cultural origins as the child's birth parents in order to facilitate an environment that will promote the child's cultural heritage and identity;

(2) where the child is an Aboriginal child, recognition is to be given to -

(i) the absence of adoption in customary Aboriginal child care arrangements, arrangements for the custody and guardianship of the child being made within the child's extended family or with other Aboriginal people who have the correct relationship under customary Aboriginal law; and

(ii) the desire and effort of the Aboriginal community to preserve the integrity of its culture and kinship relationships so that efforts must be made to find placements within families, kin groups or ethnic communities as appropriate;

(3) there should be appropriate consultation with the child's parents or other relatives, or representatives of appropriate associations, organisations or groups, in order to ascertain what is the best course of action to promote the ethnic welfare and development of the child;

(4) where it is the express wish of the birth parents of a child that the child be placed with a family that has particular religious convictions, preference is to be given to the placement of the child with such a family.