ADOPTION OF CHILDREN ACT 1994 - SECT 54 Registration of orders
ADOPTION OF CHILDREN ACT 1994 - SECT 54
Registration of orders(1) A registrar must, as soon as practicable after every order for adoption, or every order discharging an order for adoption, is made by the Court under this Act, send a memorandum, in accordance with the prescribed form, of the order for adoption, or a copy of the order discharging an order for adoption, to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, who must:
(a) register it, as prescribed, in a register kept by the Registrar and known as the Register of Adoptions ; and
(b) if it relates to a child whose birth is, or is required by the Regulations to be, registered in the Register of Births kept by the Registrar, make any alterations to, or entries in, that register as are prescribed or, if not prescribed, as the Registrar thinks fit.
(2) If, under a law at any time in force in the Territory before the commencement of this Act, an order for the adoption of a child was made by a court of competent jurisdiction and a record of that order is held in the Territory, the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages may, in the Registrar's discretion, require the person who has custody or control of the records of the court making the order to forward to the Registrar a copy of, or a memorandum relating to, the order and of any order for the discharge of the order.
(3) On receipt of a document forwarded to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages under subsection (2), the Registrar may, in the Registrar's discretion:
(a) register it, as prescribed, in the Register of Adoptions; and
(b) if it relates to a child whose birth is, or is required by the Regulations to be, registered in a register kept by the Registrar, make any alterations to, or entry in, that register as are prescribed or, if not prescribed, as the Registrar thinks fit.
(4) For the purposes of this section, the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages may make any enquiries the Registrar thinks appropriate to satisfy the Registrar that an order for adoption was made or discharged.
(5) The person who has custody or control of the records relating to an adoption order must comply with a requirement of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages made under subsection (2) and must assist the Registrar with all reasonable enquiries made under subsection (4).