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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
Adoption Bill 2009
Queensland
Adoption Bill 2009
Contents
Page
Part 1 Preliminary
Division 1 Introduction
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3 Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Division 2 Application, object and guiding principles
4 Act binds all persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5 Main object of Act. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6 Guiding principles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
7 Additional principles concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
8 Act applies despite Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
9 References to child's wellbeing or best interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Division 3 Adoptions under this Act
10 Who may be adopted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
11 Rules of private international law not relevant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Division 4 Custody and guardianship
12 What is the effect of custody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
13 What is the effect of guardianship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
Division 1 Preliminary
14 Non-application to intercountry adoptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
15 References to parent in pt 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
16 Requirement for consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
17 References to consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Division 2 Requirements about consent
18 Form of consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Adoption Bill 2009
Contents
19 Time of consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
20 Revocation of consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Division 3 Giving forms, information and counselling to parents
21 Obligation to enable understanding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
22 Parents to be given consent documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
23 Parents to be given prescribed information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
24 Parents to be given pre-consent counselling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
25 Pre-consent information and counselling for Aboriginal or
Torres Strait Islander child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
26 Parents' access to legal advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Division 4 Ensuring parents have capacity to consent
27 Meaning of qualified person for div 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
28 Assessing whether a non-adult parent has capacity to consent . 30
29 Declaration of tribunal whether an adult parent has capacity to
consent ....................................... 31
30 Appointment of guardian for adult parent without capacity to
consent ....................................... 31
Division 5 Identifying child's father and related matters
31 Application of div 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
32 Establishing father's identity and location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
33 Giving notice to father or person suspected to be father . . . . . . . 32
34 Chief executive may apply for declaration of paternity . . . . . . . . . 33
Division 6 Dispensing with requirement for parent's consent
35 Application for dispensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
36 Notice of application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
37 Respondent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
38 Hearing of application in absence of relevant parent . . . . . . . . . . 35
39 Court may dispense with need for consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
40 Notice of court order. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
41 Discharge of dispensation order if relevant parent not served
with application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Division 7 Complying interstate consents
42 Consent given under a law of another State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Division 8 Giving information, counselling and support to child
43 Application of div 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
44 Child must be given information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
45 Child must be given counselling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
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Adoption Bill 2009
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46 Counselling for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child . . . . . . . 41
47 Child may be given other support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Part 3 Custody and guardianship of a child awaiting adoption
Division 1 Custody of child under care agreement
48 References to parent in div 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
49 Meaning of care agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
50 Entering into care agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
51 Effect of care agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
52 No agreement against the wishes of a parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
53 Maximum period of care agreement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
54 Ending of care agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Division 2 Guardianship of child after consent is given to local
adoption
55 Application of div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
56 Definitions for div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
57 Chief executive becomes guardian when consent is given or
dispensed with . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
58 Child may be placed in care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
59 Effect of consent or dispensation ending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
60 Chief executive may place child in parents' care . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
61 Other ending of chief executive's guardianship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
62 Guardianship under Child Protection Act not affected . . . . . . . . . 47
Division 3 Transfer of guardianship between chief executive and
corresponding officer for another State
63 Corresponding officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
64 Chief executive may renounce guardianship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
65 Chief executive may ask corresponding officer to renounce
guardianship ................................... 48
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
Division 1 Planning
66 Chief executive must plan for future need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
67 Deciding number of parents to be assessed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Division 2 Making expressions of interest
68 Who may make an expression of interest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
69 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
70 Nomination relating to local or intercountry adoption . . . . . . . . . . 52
71 Other requirements for expressing an interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
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72 Person may express an interest despite previous expressions . . 52
73 Changes to current expression of interest or relevant information 53
74 No expressions of interest while register is closed. . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Division 3 Expression of interest register
75 Expression of interest register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
76 Eligibility for inclusion in register. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
77 Notice and information to persons entered in register . . . . . . . . . 55
78 Notice to persons not entered in register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
79 Automatic removal from register. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
80 Other removal from register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
81 Chief executive may require further information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
82 Obligation to notify chief executive of changed or new
information relevant to eligibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
83 Inclusion in register does not confer entitlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Division 4 Closing and re-opening expression of interest register
84 Chief executive may close register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
85 Notice of closure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
86 Periodic review of closure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
87 Re-opening the register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Division 5 Selections for assessment
88 Selection to meet anticipated future need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
89 Selection to meet needs of particular child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
90 Joint selection of spouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
91 Notice of selection and fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Part 5 Application by person wishing to adopt stepchild
Division 1 Making an application
92 Who may apply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
93 Requirements for application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
94 Refusal of application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
95 Obligation to notify chief executive of changed or new
information relevant to application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Division 2 How chief executive must deal with accepted application
96 Definitions for div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
97 Application of div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
98 Obtaining consents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
99 All consents not obtained . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
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100 Lapsing of application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
Division 1 Preliminary
101 Who is assessed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
102 Suitable adoptive parents register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
103 This part applies despite the Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of
Offenders) Act 1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Division 2 Purpose and scope of assessment
104 Purpose of assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
105 Scope of assessment--persons selected to meet anticipated
future need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
106 Scope of assessment--persons selected to meet needs of
particular child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
107 Scope of assessment--persons wishing to adopt stepchild . . . . 71
Division 3 Assessment process
108 Joint assessment of a couple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
109 Assessment process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
110 Timing and pace of assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
111 Consent of household members to assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
112 Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Division 4 Information to assess suitability
113 Application of div 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
114 Chief executive may require information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
115 Obligation to notify chief executive of changed or new
information relevant to eligibility or suitability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
116 Police information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
117 Traffic information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
118 Consultation with appropriate Aboriginal or Torres Strait
Islander person ................................. 78
119 Other information gathering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Division 5 Bases for deciding suitability
120 Application of div 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
121 Unacceptable risk of harm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
122 Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
123 Guiding principles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
124 Capacity to be adoptive parent generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
125 Good character. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
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126 Attitudes to children and parenting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
127 Adoptive parenting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
128 Quality of relationship with spouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
129 Infertility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
130 Matters relating to step-parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
131 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
132 Other cultural matters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
133 Other prescribed matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Division 6 Action following decision
134 Application of div 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
135 Chief executive must give notice of decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
136 Removal from expression of interest register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
137 Entry in suitable adoptive parents register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
138 Preparation of report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Division 7 Interstate register
139 Registration of person on interstate register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Division 8 Re-assessment of person listed in suitable adoptive
parents register
140 When a person may be re-assessed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
141 Conduct of re-assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
142 Re-assessment may be limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
143 Notice of re-assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Division 9 Removal from suitable adoptive parents register
144 Automatic removal from register. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
145 Removal after re-assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
146 Other grounds for removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Division 10 Investigative information
147 Police commissioner may decide that information about a
person is investigative information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
148 Appeal from decision that information is investigative information 93
149 Court to decide matters afresh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
150 Consequence of successful appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Part 7 Selection of prospective adoptive parents
Division 1 Requirement to select persons as prospective adoptive
parents
151 Application of div 1 for initial selection for local adoptions . . . . . . 95
152 Application of div 1 when further selection required. . . . . . . . . . . 95
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153 Chief executive must select prospective adoptive parents . . . . . . 96
Division 2 How selection must be made
154 Application of div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
155 Child's wellbeing and best interests generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
156 Child's particular needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
157 Preferences of parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
158 Characteristics of persons who may be selected . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
159 Eligibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
160 Placement with sibling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
161 Other children in adoptive family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
162 Initial period of full-time personal care by adoptive parents . . . . . 99
163 Additional provisions relating to Aboriginal or Torres Strait
Islander children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Division 3 Facilitating matters between parents and selected persons
164 Facilitating agreement or adoption plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Part 8 Adoption plans
Division 1 General
165 What is an adoption plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
166 Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
167 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
168 Nature of plan and limitations on operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
169 Chief executive to help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Division 2 When is plan required
170 In-person contact between child and birth family . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
171 Child protection order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
172 Particular Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander placements . . . . . . 104
173 Adoption plans otherwise not compulsory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Part 9 Adoption orders
Division 1 General matters
174 Court may make adoption orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
175 Consents and pre-consent counselling and information . . . . . . . 105
176 Particular documents not to be served on prospective adoptive
parents ....................................... 106
177 Proceedings about whether parents have consented . . . . . . . . . 107
178 Child subject to child protection order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
179 Child able to form and express views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
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180 References to prospective adoptive parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Division 2 Local adoptions
181 Application of div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
182 Application for interim order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
183 Requirements for making interim order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
184 Period of operation of interim order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
185 Effect of interim order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
186 Discharge of interim order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
187 Application for final adoption order if interim order is in force. . . . 112
188 Application for final adoption order in favour of approved carers . 112
189 Requirements for making final adoption order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
190 Notice of order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Division 3 Intercountry adoptions
191 Application of div 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
192 Custody and guardianship if no guardian under
Commonwealth Act ............................. 115
193 Custody and guardianship if interim order in force . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
194 Order ending custody or discharging interim order . . . . . . . . . . . 116
195 Application for interim order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
196 Requirements for making interim order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
197 Period of operation of interim order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
198 Chief executive to supervise child's wellbeing and interests . . . . 118
199 Application for final adoption order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
200 Requirements for making final adoption order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
201 Discharge of interim order on application for final order. . . . . . . . 120
202 Notice of order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Division 4 Adoptions by step-parent
203 Meaning of suitability report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
204 Application by step-parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
205 Notice of application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
206 Respondents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
207 Chief executive must file report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
208 Requirements for making final adoption order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
209 Notice of order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Division 5 Adoptions by residents of a convention country
210 Application of div 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
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Contents
211 Selection of prospective adoptive parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
212 Application for final adoption order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
213 Requirements for making adoption order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Division 6 Effect of final adoption order
214 Effect on relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
215 Child's name. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
216 Effect of adoption orders in relation to property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
217 Bequest by will to an unascertained adopted person. . . . . . . . . . 127
218 Transfer or distribution of property by trustee or personal
representative .................................. 129
Division 7 Discharge of final adoption order
219 Grounds for discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
220 Who may apply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
221 How to apply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
222 Respondent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
223 Hearing not to be in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
224 Hearing of application in absence of party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
225 Court orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
226 Effect of discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Part 10 Court proceedings
Division 1 Preliminary
227 Application of pt 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Division 2 Constitution of court and procedural provisions
228 Court's constitution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
229 Court's paramount consideration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
230 Evidence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
231 Court to ensure parties understand proceeding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
232 Expert help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
233 Right of appearance and representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
234 Right of appearance of departmental coordinators . . . . . . . . . . . 135
235 Separate legal representation of child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
236 Support for child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
237 Legal representation of more than 1 child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
238 Child can not be compelled to give evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
239 Court may hear submissions from non-parties to proceeding . . . 137
240 Transfer of proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
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241 Hearing of applications together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
242 Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Division 3 Appeals
243 Who may appeal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
244 How to start appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
245 Stay of operation of decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
246 Hearing procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
247 Powers of appellate court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Part 11 Access to adoption information
Division 1 Preliminary
248 Identifying information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
249 Meaning of relative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
250 References to birth parent--who is a biological father . . . . . . . . . 141
251 Application to persons who have died . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
252 Prescribed documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
253 Release of altered documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
254 How request for information is made . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Division 2 Access to particular identifying information while adopted
person is a child
255 Application of div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
256 Request by, or on behalf of, adopted child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
257 Request by birth parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
258 Taking steps to obtain consent to disclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
259 Support for persons involved in disclosure of information . . . . . . 146
260 Adoption plan may include consent or request not to be asked
for consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
261 Access to information is subject to court order. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Division 3 Access to particular information when adopted person is
an adult
262 Application of div 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
263 Request by adopted person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
264 Request by adult relative in place of adopted person. . . . . . . . . . 148
265 Request by birth parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
266 Request by adult relative in place of birth parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
267 Request by pre-adoption sibling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
268 Limitations on access to information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
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Division 4 Contact statements and related matters
269 Contact statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
270 Contact statement obligations for post-June 1991 adoptions. . . . 151
271 Contact statement obligations for pre-June 1991 adoptions . . . . 152
272 Offence about contact for pre-June 1991 adoptions. . . . . . . . . . . 154
273 Currency and revocation of contact statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
274 Persons making contact statements presumed to be living . . . . . 155
Division 5 Miscellaneous
275 Court order restricting access to information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
276 Chief executive may obtain or disclose non-identifying medical
information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
277 Intercountry adoption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Division 6 Mailbox service
278 What is the mailbox service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
279 Other definitions for div 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
280 Who is eligible to take part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
281 Exchanging non-identifying information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
282 Exchanging identifying information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
283 Notice of intention to take part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
284 Receipt and review of documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
285 Document with no identifying information or concerning matter. . 162
286 Document with identifying information or concerning matter . . . . 163
287 Photographs of persons more than 2 years old . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Part 12 Registration of adoptions
288 Definitions for pt 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
289 Chief executive must notify registrar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
290 Entitlement to certificate, information or source document
relating to particular entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Part 13 Recognition of adoptions and related matters
Division 1 Recognition of interstate and overseas adoptions
291 Recognition of Australian and New Zealand adoptions . . . . . . . . 167
292 Recognition of adoptions granted in convention countries . . . . . . 167
293 Recognition of adoptions granted in non-convention countries . . 169
Division 2 Simple adoptions
294 Definitions for div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
295 Simple adoption does not end parent-child relationship. . . . . . . . 171
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296 Conversion of simple adoption in convention country . . . . . . . . . 171
297 Conversion of simple adoption by Childrens Court . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Division 3 Other matters concerning overseas adoptions
298 Chief executive to have limited supervision of adopted children . 173
299 Declarations of validity of overseas adoptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Part 14 Offences
300 Definitions for pt 14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
301 Territorial application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
302 False representation about arranging adoption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
303 Giving or receiving consideration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
304 Advertisements and other published matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
305 False or misleading information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
306 Improperly witnessing a consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
307 Fraud or undue influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Part 15 General
Division 1 Matters about offences and proceedings
308 Types of offences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
309 Proceedings for indictable offence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
310 Limitation on who may summarily hear indictable offence . . . . . . 180
311 Limitation on time for starting summary proceeding. . . . . . . . . . . 180
312 Evidentiary provisions for proceedings under this Act . . . . . . . . . 181
313 Proof of adoptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Division 2 Confidentiality
314 Confidentiality of information obtained by persons involved in
administration of Act. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
315 Publishing identifying material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
316 Disclosure to other jurisdictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Division 3 Miscellaneous
317 Adoption contract workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
318 Meaning of appropriate Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
person ....................................... 187
319 Right of review against particular decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
320 Delegation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
321 Protection from liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
322 Convention countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
323 State central authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
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324 Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
325 Assistance to adoptive parents and others. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
326 Approved forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
327 Review of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
328 Regulation-making power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Part 16 Repeal, savings and transitional provisions
Division 1 Repeal
329 Repeal of Adoption of Children Act 1964 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Division 2 Savings and transitional
330 Meaning of commencement day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
331 Adoption orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
332 Correction of adoption orders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
333 Application by step-parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
334 Special Needs Children's Adoption List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
335 Review of decision to remove name from adoption list . . . . . . . . 193
336 Expression of interest register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
337 Uncompleted review of decision to remove persons from
expression of interest register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
338 Suitable adoptive parents register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
339 Current applications to Supreme Court or Childrens Court . . . . . 194
340 Consents to adoption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
341 Chief executive's guardianship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
342 Current applications to chief executive to convert simple
adoption ...................................... 196
343 Particular objections continue in force as contact statements
for pt 11 ...................................... 196
344 Current application to chief executive to disclose particular
information .................................... 196
345 Entitlement to particular records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
346 Transitional--effect of adoption orders in relation to property . . . 197
Part 17 Amendments
Division 1 Amendment of Adoption of Children Act 1964
347 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
348 Amendment of s 19 (Consents of parents and guardians
required to adoptions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
349 Amendment of s 29A (Bequest by will to unascertained
adopted persons) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
350 Insertion of new s 59D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
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59D Chief executive may obtain or disclose
non-identifying medical information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
351 Insertion of new pt 7, div 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Division 4 Provision for Adoption Act 2009
76 Who is a birth parent for pt 4A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Division 2 Amendment of Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration
Act 2003
352 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
353 Amendment of s 3 (Objects). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
354 Amendment of s 14 (Reregistering a birth or adoption) . . . . . . . . 200
355 Amendment of s 41 (Registering events in register) . . . . . . . . . . 200
356 Insertion of new ss 41A41C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
41A Registering adoptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
41B Amending registers on discharges of adoptions . . . . 202
41C Sending notice of relevant adoption orders and
discharges to other States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
357 Amendment of s 44 (Obtaining information from the registrar) . . 204
358 Insertion of new s 48D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
48D Arrangement for giving information about persons
for particular purposes under Adoption Act . . . . . . . . 205
359 Insertion of new s 57B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
57B Transitional--Adoption Act 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
360 Amendment of sch 2 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Division 3 Amendment of Child Protection Act 1999
361 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
362 Amendment of s 51ZI (Ending an agreement) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
363 Amendment of s 186 (Confidentiality of notifiers of harm or risk
of harm) ...................................... 207
364 Amendment of s 187 (Confidentiality of information obtained
by persons involved in administration of Act) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
365 Amendment of sch 3 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Division 4 Amendment of Childrens Court Act 1992
366 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
367 Amendment of s 20 (Who may be present at a proceeding) . . . . 208
Division 5 Amendment of other Acts
368 Consequential amendments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Schedule 1 Hague convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Schedule 2 Consequential amendments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
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Child Care Act 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Child Protection Act 1999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Commission for Children and Young People and Child
Guardian Act 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Commonwealth Powers (Family Law--Children) Act 1990 . . . . . 229
Coroners Act 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Freedom of Information Act 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Schedule 3 Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Page 15
2009
A Bill
for
An Act to make provision about the adoption of children and to
make related amendments of the Adoption of Children Act
1964, the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2003
and the Child Protection Act 1999 and to make consequential
amendments of other Acts as stated in schedule 2
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 1]
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
Part 1 Preliminary 2
Division 1 Introduction 3
1 Short title 4
This Act may be cited as the Adoption Act 2009. 5
2 Commencement 6
This Act, other than part 17 division 1, commences on a day 7
to be fixed by proclamation. 8
3 Dictionary 9
The dictionary in schedule 3 defines particular words used in 10
this Act. 11
Division 2 Application, object and guiding 12
principles 13
4 Act binds all persons 14
(1) This Act binds all persons including the State and, as far as 15
the legislative power of the Parliament permits, the 16
Commonwealth and all the other States. 17
(2) Subsection (1) does not make the State, the Commonwealth or 18
another State liable for an offence. 19
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 5]
5 Main object of Act 1
The main object of this Act is to provide for the adoption of 2
children in Queensland, and for access to information about 3
parties to adoptions in Queensland, in a way that-- 4
(a) promotes the wellbeing and best interests of adopted 5
persons throughout their lives; and 6
(b) supports efficient and accountable practice in the 7
delivery of adoption services; and 8
(c) complies with Australia's obligations under the Hague 9
convention. 10
6 Guiding principles 11
(1) This Act is to be administered under the principle that the 12
wellbeing and best interests of an adopted child, both through 13
childhood and the rest of his or her life, are paramount. 14
(2) Subject to subsection (1), this Act is to be administered under 15
the following principles-- 16
(a) the purpose of an adoption is to provide for a child's 17
long-term care, wellbeing and development by creating 18
a permanent parent-child relationship between the child 19
and the adoptive parents; 20
(b) adoption is an appropriate long-term care option for a 21
child if-- 22
(i) the child's parents choose adoption for the child's 23
long-term care; or 24
(ii) the child does not have a parent who is willing and 25
able to protect the child from harm and meet the 26
child's need for long-term stable care; 27
(c) each of the parties to an adoption or proposed adoption 28
should be given the information he or she reasonably 29
needs to participate effectively in processes under this 30
Act; 31
(d) a child should be kept informed of matters affecting him 32
or her in a way and to an extent that is appropriate, 33
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 6]
having regard to the child's age and ability to 1
understand; 2
(e) the process for a child's adoption should include 3
considering the views of-- 4
(i) the child's parents; and 5
(ii) the child, if he or she is able to form and express 6
views about the adoption, having regard to the 7
child's age and ability to understand; 8
(f) an adopted child of a particular ethnic or other cultural 9
background should have-- 10
(i) access to information about the child's ethnic or 11
cultural heritage; and 12
(ii) opportunities to develop and maintain a connection 13
with the child's ethnicity or culture; and 14
(iii) opportunities to maintain contact with the child's 15
community or language group; 16
(g) a child's adoptive parents have the primary 17
responsibility for the child's upbringing, protection and 18
development; 19
(h) an adopted child should be cared for in a way that-- 20
(i) ensures a safe, stable and nurturing family and 21
home life; and 22
(ii) promotes openness and honesty about the child's 23
adoption; and 24
(iii) promotes the development of the child's emotional, 25
mental, physical and social wellbeing; 26
(i) the same protection, support and resources should be 27
available to an adopted person regardless of whether the 28
adoption was a local adoption, intercountry adoption or 29
adoption by a step-parent; 30
(j) although a final adoption order changes legal 31
relationships, it may be in an adopted child's best 32
interests for-- 33
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 7]
(i) the child's emotional connections with members of 1
the child's birth family to continue; or 2
(ii) the child to have ongoing contact with members of 3
the child's birth family; or 4
(iii) the child or the child's adoptive parents to 5
exchange information with members of the child's 6
birth family. 7
7 Additional principles concerning Aboriginal and Torres 8
Strait Islander persons 9
(1) This Act is also to be administered under the following 10
principles-- 11
(a) because adoption (as provided for in this Act) is not part 12
of Aboriginal tradition or Island custom, adoption of an 13
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child should be 14
considered as a way of meeting the child's need for 15
long-term stable care only if there is no better available 16
option; 17
Note-- 18
Island custom includes a customary child-rearing practice that is 19
similar to adoption in so far as parental responsibility for a child 20
is permanently transferred to someone other than the child's 21
parents. This practice is sometimes referred to as either 22
`customary adoption' or `traditional adoption'. 23
(b) it is in the best interests of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait 24
Islander child-- 25
(i) to be cared for within an Aboriginal or Torres 26
Strait Islander community; and 27
(ii) to maintain contact with the child's community or 28
language group; and 29
(iii) to develop and maintain a connection with the 30
child's Aboriginal tradition or Island custom; and 31
(iv) for the child's sense of Aboriginal or Torres Strait 32
Islander identity to be preserved and enhanced. 33
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 8]
(2) If the Childrens Court exercises a power under this Act in 1
relation to an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, the 2
court must have regard to the views, about the child and about 3
Aboriginal tradition or Island custom relating to the child, of 4
an appropriate Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person. 5
(3) As far as is reasonably practicable, the chief executive and 6
other officers of the department must try to conduct 7
consultations, counselling, negotiations and other proceedings 8
involving an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander in a 9
way and in a place that is appropriate to Aboriginal tradition 10
or Island custom. 11
8 Act applies despite Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 12
(1) Despite the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991, a person may make 13
a decision or do another act that is necessary to comply with, 14
or is specifically authorised by, this Act. 15
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a person may make a 16
decision or do another act under this Act to comply with the 17
main guiding principle under section 6(1). 18
9 References to child's wellbeing or best interests 19
Unless a contrary intention appears, a reference in this Act to 20
a child's wellbeing or best interests is a reference to the child's 21
wellbeing or best interests through both childhood and the rest 22
of his or her life. 23
Division 3 Adoptions under this Act 24
10 Who may be adopted 25
(1) A child may be adopted by an order of the Childrens Court 26
under this Act. 27
Page 22
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 11]
(2) A child may be adopted whether or not the child has been 1
previously adopted. 2
(3) An adult may not be adopted. 3
11 Rules of private international law not relevant 4
The power to make an adoption order under this Act does not 5
depend on any fact or circumstance not expressly stated in this 6
Act. 7
Division 4 Custody and guardianship 8
12 What is the effect of custody 9
For this Act, a person who has custody of a child has-- 10
(a) the right to have the child's daily care; and 11
(b) the right and responsibility to make decisions about the 12
child's daily care. 13
13 What is the effect of guardianship 14
For this Act, a person who has guardianship of a child has-- 15
(a) the right to have the child's daily care; and 16
(b) the right and responsibility to make decisions about the 17
child's daily care; and 18
(c) all the powers, rights and responsibilities in relation to 19
the child that would otherwise have been vested in the 20
person having parental responsibility for making 21
decisions about the long-term care, wellbeing and 22
development of the child. 23
Page 23
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 14]
Part 2 Consent to adoption and 1
related matters 2
Division 1 Preliminary 3
14 Non-application to intercountry adoptions 4
This part applies to the proposed adoption of a child other 5
than by an intercountry adoption. 6
15 References to parent in pt 2 7
A reference in this part, other than division 6, to a parent of 8
the child does not include a person if, under section 39, a court 9
has dispensed with the need for the person's consent to the 10
child's adoption. 11
16 Requirement for consent 12
Section 175 states the requirement for the child's parents to 13
consent under this part to the adoption before the Childrens 14
Court may make an adoption order. 15
17 References to consent 16
(1) In this part-- 17
consent means consent freely and voluntarily given by a 18
person with capacity to give the consent. 19
(2) A reference in this part to consent to an adoption is a reference 20
to-- 21
(a) for an adoption of a step-child under part 9, division 4-- 22
(i) consent to the child's adoption by the proposed 23
adoptive parent; or 24
(ii) consent to the child's adoption generally; or 25
(b) otherwise, consent to the child's adoption generally. 26
Page 24
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 18]
Division 2 Requirements about consent 1
18 Form of consent 2
(1) A parent's consent to the child's adoption must be in the 3
approved form, signed by the parent and witnessed by an 4
authorised person. 5
(2) The approved form must include provision for-- 6
(a) information to identify the child; and 7
(b) information to identify the parent; and 8
(c) a signed statement by the witness that the witness has 9
sighted the documents, relating to proof of the parent's 10
identity, prescribed under a regulation. 11
(3) The approved form may also include provision for other 12
matters relevant to the child's adoption that may be, but are 13
not required to be, completed. 14
Example of other matters-- 15
details of another parent of the child to the extent the details are known 16
by the parent giving the consent 17
(4) A single document must not contain-- 18
(a) consent to the adoption of more than 1 child; or 19
(b) more than 1 parent's consent to the adoption of the 20
child. 21
(5) In this section-- 22
authorised person means a public service employee, or other 23
appropriate person in Queensland or elsewhere, authorised by 24
the chief executive to witness a consent for this Act. 25
19 Time of consent 26
A parent's consent to the child's adoption may not be given-- 27
(a) less than 30 days after the child's birth; or 28
Page 25
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 20]
(b) less than 14 days after the parent is given the documents 1
under section 22; or 2
(c) less than 14 days after the parent is given the prescribed 3
information under section 23; or 4
(d) less than 14 days after the day the counsellor swears the 5
statement mentioned in section 175(3)(b). 6
20 Revocation of consent 7
A parent may revoke the parent's consent to the child's 8
adoption only by giving a signed notice to the chief executive 9
within 30 days after the consent is given. 10
Division 3 Giving forms, information and 11
counselling to parents 12
21 Obligation to enable understanding 13
The chief executive must ensure information is given to each 14
of the child's parents under this division, and counselling of 15
the parent is carried out under this division, in a way that 16
enables the parent to understand. 17
22 Parents to be given consent documents 18
The chief executive must give to each of the child's parents-- 19
(a) a document showing the contents of the approved form 20
for section 18; and 21
(b) a document that the parent may use to revoke consent 22
given by the parent to the child's adoption. 23
23 Parents to be given prescribed information 24
(1) The chief executive must give each of the child's parents a 25
document containing information about the following matters 26
(the prescribed information)-- 27
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 23]
(a) options other than adoption for the child's long-term 1
care; 2
(b) support (financial and otherwise) that may be available 3
to the parent whether or not adoption of the child 4
proceeds; 5
(c) possible psychological effects for the parent, both short 6
and long-term, of consenting to the adoption; 7
(d) possible psychological effects for the child, both short 8
and long-term, of being adopted; 9
(e) how and when the parent's consent to the adoption may 10
be revoked; 11
(f) how the parent may give the chief executive the parent's 12
preferences relating to the child's adoption including, 13
for example, preferences about-- 14
(i) the child's religious upbringing; or 15
(ii) the characteristics of the child's adoptive parents 16
and adoptive family; or 17
(iii) the degree of openness in the adoption; 18
(g) the adoption process under this Act, including-- 19
(i) the consents required for an adoption; and 20
(ii) the process for recruiting, assessing and selecting 21
prospective adoptive parents; and 22
(iii) the chief executive's functions and powers relating 23
to the child's adoption; and 24
(iv) the role of the Childrens Court; 25
(h) the legal effect of adoption; 26
(i) the rights and responsibilities of the parties to an 27
adoption, including those relating to-- 28
(i) adoption plans; and 29
(ii) access to information about, and contact with, 30
other parties to an adoption throughout the life of 31
the adopted person; 32
Page 27
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 24]
(j) the requirement for pre-consent counselling and how it 1
will be arranged; 2
(k) if the child to be adopted is an Aboriginal person or 3
Torres Strait Islander-- 4
(i) options other than adoption for the child's 5
long-term care in accordance with Aboriginal 6
tradition or Island custom; and 7
(ii) the importance of the child being cared for in a 8
way that-- 9
(A) helps the child to develop and maintain a 10
connection with the child's Aboriginal 11
tradition or Island custom; and 12
(B) preserves and enhances the child's sense of 13
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander identity. 14
(2) The chief executive must arrange for the prescribed 15
information to be explained to the parent. 16
24 Parents to be given pre-consent counselling 17
(1) The chief executive must arrange for each of the child's 18
parents to receive counselling about the prescribed 19
information under section 23. 20
(2) The counselling must be carried out by a counsellor 21
nominated by the chief executive. 22
(3) The nominated counsellor may be an officer of the 23
department. 24
(4) However, if the nominated counsellor is an officer of the 25
department, the chief executive must-- 26
(a) advise the parent that he or she may ask for further 27
counselling by someone who is not an officer of the 28
department; and 29
(b) if the parent makes a request under paragraph (a), 30
nominate another counsellor who is not an officer of the 31
department to carry out the further counselling. 32
Page 28
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 25]
(5) The counselling must be carried out in a way that allows the 1
parent to ask questions and discuss the prescribed information 2
and matters arising from the information. 3
(6) If the counsellor reasonably suspects the parent does not have 4
capacity to consent to the adoption, the counsellor must notify 5
the chief executive. 6
(7) The counsellor may offer to meet with other persons. 7
Example-- 8
The counsellor may offer to meet other family members to help the 9
parent to consider other options for the child's long-term care. 10
(8) The counselling may be carried out in 1 or more sessions and 11
by 1 or more counsellors. 12
(9) In this section-- 13
counsellor means a person who the chief executive is satisfied 14
has appropriate qualifications or experience to carry out 15
counselling under this section. 16
25 Pre-consent information and counselling for Aboriginal 17
or Torres Strait Islander child 18
(1) This section applies if the child to be adopted is an Aboriginal 19
person or Torres Strait Islander. 20
(2) The counselling under section 24 must be carried out in a way 21
and at a place that is appropriate to Aboriginal tradition or 22
Island custom. 23
(3) The person who explains the prescribed information 24
mentioned in section 23(1)(k)-- 25
(a) need not be a counsellor under section 24; but 26
(b) must be an appropriate Aboriginal or Torres Strait 27
Islander person. 28
(4) This section does not apply to the counselling of a parent to 29
the extent the parent, by giving the chief executive a signed 30
notice in the approved form, declines to receive counselling in 31
a way, or by a person, required by this section. 32
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 26]
(5) The approved form for subsection (4) must state-- 1
(a) that the chief executive has offered the parent 2
counselling under this section; and 3
(b) the extent to which the counselling is declined; and 4
(c) that the chief executive has given the parent a document 5
containing the information mentioned in subsection (3). 6
26 Parents' access to legal advice 7
The chief executive must ensure each of the child's parents is 8
told that the parent may wish to seek legal advice and is given 9
the details of at least 1 entity that generally provides free legal 10
services. 11
Division 4 Ensuring parents have capacity to 12
consent 13
27 Meaning of qualified person for div 4 14
In this division-- 15
qualified person means a person who, if called as a witness in 16
a proceeding, would be qualified to give expert evidence on 17
the issue whether a parent has capacity to give consent to an 18
adoption of the child. 19
28 Assessing whether a non-adult parent has capacity to 20
consent 21
(1) This section applies if a parent of the child is not an adult. 22
(2) Before the parent may consent to the adoption, the chief 23
executive must have a qualified person assess whether the 24
parent has capacity to give the consent. 25
(3) The qualified person must not be the same person who 26
counsels the parent under section 24. 27
Page 30
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 29]
29 Declaration of tribunal whether an adult parent has 1
capacity to consent 2
(1) This section applies to an adult parent of the child if-- 3
(a) a counsellor under section 24 notifies the chief executive 4
that the counsellor reasonably suspects the parent does 5
not have capacity to consent to the adoption; or 6
(b) the chief executive otherwise knows or reasonably 7
suspects the parent does not have capacity to consent to 8
the adoption. 9
(2) Before the parent may consent to the adoption, the chief 10
executive must apply to the Guardianship and Administration 11
Tribunal for a declaration about the parent's capacity to give 12
the consent. 13
Note-- 14
See the Guardianship and Administration Act 2000, section 146. 15
(3) However, if the parent is not in Queensland at the time the 16
parent's consent is proposed to be given, the chief executive 17
must take the following steps instead of making an application 18
under subsection (2)-- 19
(a) if it is possible for the chief executive to make an 20
application, equivalent to an application mentioned in 21
subsection (2), in the jurisdiction where the parent is, 22
the chief executive must make that application; 23
(b) otherwise, the chief executive must ensure a qualified 24
person assesses whether the parent has capacity to give 25
the consent. 26
30 Appointment of guardian for adult parent without 27
capacity to consent 28
(1) This section applies if-- 29
(a) the Guardianship and Administration Tribunal makes a 30
declaration that the parent does not have capacity to give 31
the consent; and 32
Page 31
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 31]
(b) the parent does not have a guardian under the 1
Guardianship and Administration Act 2000 for the 2
matter of dispensation. 3
(2) Before the chief executive may make an application under 4
division 6 for an order for dispensation, the chief executive 5
must apply to the Guardianship and Administration Tribunal 6
for an order appointing a guardian for the matter of the 7
dispensation. 8
(3) In this section-- 9
dispensation means dispensation with the need for the 10
parent's consent. 11
Division 5 Identifying child's father and related 12
matters 13
31 Application of div 5 14
This division applies in relation to the child if, so far as the 15
chief executive is aware, every consent required for the child's 16
adoption has been given other than the consent of the child's 17
father. 18
32 Establishing father's identity and location 19
If the chief executive does not know the identity and location 20
of the child's father, the chief executive must take reasonable 21
steps to establish those matters. 22
33 Giving notice to father or person suspected to be father 23
(1) If the chief executive knows or reasonably suspects a person is 24
the child's father, the chief executive must give him a notice 25
stating-- 26
(a) the other consent or consents to the child's adoption 27
have been given; and 28
(b) how the person may-- 29
Page 32
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 34]
(i) give consent; or 1
(ii) take steps to establish whether he is the child's 2
father; or 3
(iii) apply under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cwlth) for a 4
parenting order for the child. 5
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the chief executive is 6
satisfied-- 7
(a) the person is a lineal relative of the child's mother; or 8
(b) the child's conception was a result of an offence 9
committed by the person; or 10
(c) there would be an unacceptable risk of harm to the child 11
or mother if the person were made aware of the child's 12
birth or proposed adoption. 13
34 Chief executive may apply for declaration of paternity 14
For the Status of Children Act 1978, section 10(1)(c), the chief 15
executive is a person having a proper interest in the result of 16
the question whether the relationship of father and child exists 17
between the child and another person. 18
Division 6 Dispensing with requirement for 19
parent's consent 20
35 Application for dispensation 21
(1) The chief executive, or a person who has made an application 22
to the chief executive under part 5, may apply to the Childrens 23
Court for an order dispensing with the need for the consent of 24
a stated parent of the child (the relevant parent) to the child's 25
adoption. 26
(2) The application must state the grounds on which it is made. 27
Page 33
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 36]
36 Notice of application 1
(1) As soon as practicable after filing the application in the court, 2
the applicant must serve a copy of it on the relevant parent 3
and, if the applicant is not the chief executive, serve a copy on 4
the chief executive. 5
(2) A served copy must state where and when the application is to 6
be heard. 7
(3) A copy served on the relevant parent must also state that the 8
application may be heard and decided even though the 9
relevant parent does not appear in court. 10
(4) The court may dispense with the requirement to serve a copy 11
of the application on the relevant parent if the court is satisfied 12
of any of the following matters-- 13
(a) the applicant can not establish the identity of the 14
relevant parent after making all reasonable enquiries; 15
(b) the applicant can not locate the relevant parent after 16
making all reasonable enquiries; 17
(c) the relevant parent is a lineal relative of the child's 18
mother; 19
(d) the child's conception was a result of an offence 20
committed by the relevant parent; 21
(e) there would be an unacceptable risk of harm to the child 22
or mother if the relevant parent were made aware of the 23
child's birth or proposed adoption; 24
(f) there are other special circumstances for giving the 25
dispensation. 26
37 Respondent 27
(1) If the relevant parent is served with a copy of the application, 28
he or she is a respondent in the proceeding. 29
(2) If the chief executive is not the applicant, the chief executive 30
may apply to the court to be included as a respondent in the 31
proceeding. 32
Page 34
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 38]
38 Hearing of application in absence of relevant parent 1
(1) The court may hear and decide the application in the absence 2
of the relevant parent only if-- 3
(a) the relevant parent has been given reasonable notice of 4
the hearing and failed to attend or continue to attend the 5
hearing; or 6
(b) the court dispenses with the requirement to serve a copy 7
of the application on the relevant parent under section 8
36(4). 9
(2) Subsection (1) does not limit the court's jurisdiction to 10
exclude a person from a proceeding. 11
39 Court may dispense with need for consent 12
(1) The court may make an order dispensing with the need for the 13
relevant parent's consent to the adoption if-- 14
(a) the court is satisfied of a matter stated in section 15
36(4)(a) to (e); or 16
(b) the Guardianship and Administration Tribunal has made 17
a declaration that the relevant parent does not have 18
capacity to give the consent; or 19
(c) the relevant parent is not an adult and the court is 20
satisfied, on the basis of an assessment mentioned in 21
section 28, that the relevant parent does not have 22
capacity to give the consent; or 23
(d) the relevant parent is not in Queensland and the court is 24
satisfied, on the basis of a declaration or assessment 25
mentioned in section 29(3), that the relevant parent does 26
not have capacity to give the consent; or 27
(e) the court is satisfied the relevant parent-- 28
(i) is not, and will not be within a time frame 29
appropriate to the child's age and circumstances, 30
willing and able to protect the child from harm and 31
meet the child's need for long-term stable care; and 32
(ii) is unreasonably-- 33
Page 35
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 39]
(A) withholding his or her consent to the 1
adoption; or 2
(B) refusing to engage with the chief executive in 3
relation to the issue of whether to give 4
consent to the adoption; or 5
(f) the court is satisfied there are other special 6
circumstances for giving the dispensation. 7
(2) However, if the relevant parent is or is believed to be the 8
child's father, the court may not give the dispensation-- 9
(a) within 30 days after notice is given to the relevant parent 10
under section 33; or 11
(b) if the court has reason to believe there is-- 12
(i) a current application under the Status of Children 13
Act 1978, section 10, by the relevant parent or 14
someone else, for a declaration of paternity for the 15
child; or 16
(ii) a current application under the Family Law Act 17
1975 (Cwlth) by the relevant parent for a parenting 18
order for the child. 19
(3) Also, the court must not give the dispensation unless satisfied 20
it would be in the child's best interests for arrangements for 21
the child's adoption to continue to be made. 22
(4) Without limiting subsection (3)-- 23
(a) if the applicant is a person who has made an application 24
under part 5, the court must be satisfied the grounds for 25
making an adoption order in favour of the applicant are 26
likely to exist; and 27
(b) if the child is in the custody or guardianship of the chief 28
executive (child safety) or someone else under the Child 29
Protection Act 1999, the court must-- 30
(i) have regard to anything in a case plan in force for 31
the child under chapter 2, part 3A of that Act 32
about-- 33
Page 36
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 40]
(A) adoption as a way of meeting the child's 1
need for long-term stable care; or 2
(B) re-uniting the child with the child's family; 3
and 4
(ii) consider whether there is another way of meeting 5
the child's need for long-term stable care that 6
would better promote the child's wellbeing and 7
best interests. 8
(5) If the child has any views about the relevant parent and is able 9
to express the views, having regard to the child's age and 10
ability to understand, the court must consider the views. 11
40 Notice of court order 12
(1) This section applies if-- 13
(a) the court makes an order dispensing with the need for 14
the relevant parent's consent; and 15
(b) the chief executive was not the applicant for the order. 16
(2) The applicant must give the chief executive a copy of the 17
order. 18
41 Discharge of dispensation order if relevant parent not 19
served with application 20
(1) This section applies if-- 21
(a) the court makes an order dispensing with the need for 22
the relevant parent's consent (the dispensation order); 23
and 24
(b) a copy of the application for the dispensation order was 25
not served on the relevant parent. 26
(2) The relevant parent or the chief executive may apply to the 27
court to discharge the dispensation order. 28
(3) The applicant must serve a copy of the application on each 29
party to the proceeding for the dispensation order. 30
Page 37
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 42]
(4) The court may discharge the dispensation order if-- 1
(a) an adoption order for the child has not been made; and 2
(b) the court is satisfied the ground on which the 3
dispensation order was made under section 39(1) does 4
not apply. 5
(5) The discharge of the dispensation order does not affect a 6
consent given by anyone else to the child's adoption unless the 7
court decides otherwise. 8
Division 7 Complying interstate consents 9
42 Consent given under a law of another State 10
(1) A complying interstate consent has effect for this Act as if it 11
were given under this part. 12
(2) For subsection (1), a person's consent to the child's adoption 13
is a complying interstate consent if an authorised officer for 14
another State has given the chief executive-- 15
(a) a notice stating that the consent was given, by signed 16
writing, under a law of the other State and has not been 17
revoked under that law; and 18
(b) a written authorisation to make arrangements for the 19
adoption of the child in Queensland. 20
(3) In this section-- 21
authorised officer, for another State, means an officer who, 22
under the law of the State, is authorised to make arrangements 23
for the adoption of children in the State. 24
Page 38
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 43]
Division 8 Giving information, counselling and 1
support to child 2
43 Application of div 8 3
This division applies if the child is able to form and express 4
views about the adoption. 5
44 Child must be given information 6
(1) The chief executive must ensure the child is given the 7
prescribed information before an application for an adoption 8
order for the child is made. 9
(2) The information must be given in a way and to an extent that 10
is reasonable, having regard to the child's age and ability to 11
understand. 12
(3) In this section-- 13
prescribed information means information about the 14
following matters-- 15
(a) options other than adoption for the child's long-term 16
care; 17
(b) possible psychological effects for the child, both short 18
and long-term, of being adopted; 19
(c) how the child's parents may give the chief executive 20
their preferences relating to the child's adoption 21
including, for example, preferences about-- 22
(i) the child's religious upbringing; or 23
(ii) the characteristics of the child's adoptive parents 24
and adoptive family; or 25
(iii) the degree of openness in the adoption; 26
(d) the adoption process under this Act, including-- 27
(i) the consents required for an adoption; and 28
(ii) the process for recruiting, assessing and selecting 29
prospective adoptive parents; and 30
Page 39
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 44]
(iii) the chief executive's functions and powers relating 1
to the child's adoption; and 2
(iv) the role of the Childrens Court; 3
(e) support that may be available to the child under sections 4
47, 235 and 236; 5
(f) the legal effect of adoption; 6
(g) the rights and responsibilities of the parties to an 7
adoption, including those relating to-- 8
(i) adoption plans; and 9
(ii) access to information about, and contact with, 10
other parties to an adoption throughout the life of 11
the adopted person; 12
(h) the requirement for counselling under section 45 and 13
how it will be arranged; 14
(i) if the child to be adopted is an Aboriginal person or 15
Torres Strait Islander-- 16
(i) options other than adoption for the child's 17
long-term care in accordance with Aboriginal 18
tradition or Island custom; and 19
(ii) the importance of the child being cared for in a 20
way that-- 21
(A) helps the child to develop and maintain a 22
connection with the child's Aboriginal 23
tradition or Island custom; and 24
(B) preserves and enhances the child's sense of 25
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander identity; 26
(j) the guiding principles that-- 27
(i) the child should be kept informed of matters 28
affecting him or her in a way and to an extent that 29
is appropriate, having regard to the child's age and 30
ability to understand; and 31
Page 40
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 2 Consent to adoption and related matters
[s 45]
(ii) the child's views must be given consideration, 1
having regard to the child's age or ability to 2
understand. 3
45 Child must be given counselling 4
(1) The chief executive must ensure the child receives counselling 5
about the proposed adoption, from a counsellor nominated by 6
the chief executive, before an application for an adoption 7
order for the child is made. 8
(2) The counselling must be carried out in a way and to an extent 9
that is reasonable, having regard to the child's age and ability 10
to understand. 11
(3) The counselling may be carried out in 1 or more sessions and 12
by 1 or more counsellors. 13
(4) In this section-- 14
counsellor means a person who the chief executive is satisfied 15
has appropriate qualifications or experience to carry out 16
counselling under this section. 17
46 Counselling for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child 18
(1) This section applies to the counselling under section 45 if the 19
child is an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander. 20
(2) The counselling must be carried out in a way and at a place 21
that is appropriate to Aboriginal tradition or Island custom. 22
(3) A person who, as part of the counselling, explains the 23
information under section 44(3), definition prescribed 24
information, paragraph (i)-- 25
(a) need not be a counsellor under section 45; but 26
(b) must be an appropriate Aboriginal or Torres Strait 27
Islander person. 28
(4) This section does not apply to the extent the child declines to 29
receive counselling in a way, or by a person, required by this 30
section. 31
Page 41
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 3 Custody and guardianship of a child awaiting adoption
[s 47]
47 Child may be given other support 1
(1) The chief executive may appoint a qualified person to support 2
the child during the adoption process. 3
(2) In this section-- 4
qualified person means a social worker, lawyer or other 5
person who the chief executive is satisfied has the necessary 6
expertise or experience to give the relevant support and who is 7
not an employee of the department. 8
Part 3 Custody and guardianship of a 9
child awaiting adoption 10
Division 1 Custody of child under care 11
agreement 12
48 References to parent in div 1 13
A reference in this division to a parent of a child does not 14
include a person if, under section 39, a court has dispensed 15
with the need for the person's consent to the child's adoption. 16
49 Meaning of care agreement 17
In this division-- 18
care agreement means an agreement under this division 19
between a child's parent and the chief executive (child safety) 20
for the short-term placement of the child in care while 21
consents for the child's adoption are obtained. 22
50 Entering into care agreements 23
(1) This section applies if a parent of a child has asked the chief 24
executive to arrange for the child's adoption or indicated to 25
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 3 Custody and guardianship of a child awaiting adoption
[s 51]
the chief executive that the parent is considering adoption for 1
the child. 2
(2) The chief executive (child safety) may enter into a care 3
agreement with a parent who has custody of the child. 4
(3) The agreement must be in the approved form, signed by the 5
parties. 6
(4) The child may also be a party to the agreement if the chief 7
executive (child safety) considers it appropriate, having regard 8
to the child's age and ability to understand. 9
(5) The agreement must state-- 10
(a) arrangements for contact between the child and the 11
parents; and 12
(b) the type of decisions relating to the child for which the 13
parents must be consulted. 14
51 Effect of care agreement 15
(1) While a care agreement for a child is in force, the chief 16
executive (child safety) has custody of the child and may 17
place the child in care under the Child Protection Act 1999, 18
chapter 2, part 6, division 4. 19
(2) The Child Protection Act 1999, sections 74, 90 and 162 apply 20
as if a reference in the sections to a care agreement included a 21
care agreement under this Act. 22
52 No agreement against the wishes of a parent 23
(1) A parent of a child may give the chief executive (child safety) 24
notice that the parent does not wish the child to be placed in 25
care under a care agreement. 26
(2) On receiving a notice under subsection (1)-- 27
(a) the chief executive (child safety) must not enter a care 28
agreement for the child with another parent of the child; 29
or 30
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 3 Custody and guardianship of a child awaiting adoption
[s 53]
(b) if a care agreement is in force for the child with another 1
parent of the child, the chief executive (child safety) 2
must end the agreement under section 54. 3
53 Maximum period of care agreement 4
(1) A care agreement may not be entered into for a child if 1 or 5
more care agreements have already been in force for the child 6
for a total period of 1 year. 7
(2) A care agreement expires if the total period for which the care 8
agreement and any other care agreement entered into for the 9
child under this division has been in force is 1 year. 10
54 Ending of care agreement 11
(1) Unless it ends earlier under this division, a care agreement has 12
effect until the chief executive becomes a guardian of the 13
child under section 57. 14
(2) A care agreement may be ended at any time with the 15
agreement of the chief executive and each parent who is a 16
party to the agreement. 17
(3) A party to a care agreement may end the agreement at any 18
time by giving at least 2 days notice to the other parties. 19
(4) A care agreement ends if the chief executive (child safety) 20
obtains custody or guardianship of the child under the Child 21
Protection Act 1999. 22
Note-- 23
If a care agreement ends and the child is a child in need of protection 24
under the Child Protection Act 1999, the chief executive (child safety) 25
may take the action under that Act that the chief executive (child safety) 26
considers appropriate. 27
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 3 Custody and guardianship of a child awaiting adoption
[s 55]
Division 2 Guardianship of child after consent 1
is given to local adoption 2
55 Application of div 2 3
This division applies to the proposed adoption of a child by a 4
local adoption. 5
56 Definitions for div 2 6
In this division-- 7
consent means consent given under part 2. 8
dispense with, in relation to the need for a parent's consent, 9
means dispense with under section 39. 10
57 Chief executive becomes guardian when consent is given 11
or dispensed with 12
(1) This section applies when-- 13
(a) a parent consents to the child's adoption; or 14
(b) the need for a parent's consent to the child's adoption is 15
dispensed with. 16
(2) The parent stops having guardianship of the child. 17
(3) The chief executive becomes a guardian of the child under this 18
section. 19
(4) No-one else's guardianship of the child is affected. 20
58 Child may be placed in care 21
If the chief executive is the child's guardian under section 57, 22
the chief executive may place the child in care under the Child 23
Protection Act 1999, chapter 2, part 6, division 4. 24
59 Effect of consent or dispensation ending 25
(1) This section applies if-- 26
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 3 Custody and guardianship of a child awaiting adoption
[s 60]
(a) a parent revokes his or her consent to the child's 1
adoption under section 20; or 2
(b) an order dispensing with the need for a parent's consent 3
is overturned on appeal or discharged. 4
(2) The parent's guardianship of the child resumes. 5
(3) The chief executive's guardianship under section 57, because 6
of the consent or dispensation, ends. 7
(4) The chief executive's guardianship under section 57, because 8
of another parent's consent or another dispensation, is not 9
affected. 10
60 Chief executive may place child in parents' care 11
(1) This section applies if-- 12
(a) the chief executive is the child's guardian under section 13
57; and 14
(b) it is at least 30 days since, for each of the child's parents, 15
his or her consent was given or the need for his or her 16
consent was dispensed with; and 17
(c) the chief executive is satisfied-- 18
(i) one or more of the child's parents are willing and 19
able to protect the child from harm and meet the 20
child's need for long-term stable care; and 21
(ii) it would otherwise be in the child's best interests to 22
be placed in the care of one or more of the parents 23
under this section; and 24
(d) an interim order is not in force for the child. 25
(2) The chief executive may place the child in the care of one or 26
more of the parents by giving each of the child's parents a 27
signed notice. 28
(3) On the placement of the child under subsection (2)-- 29
(a) the chief executive's guardianship of the child under 30
section 57 ends; and 31
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 3 Custody and guardianship of a child awaiting adoption
[s 61]
(b) a consent to the child's adoption given by a parent of the 1
child stops having effect. 2
61 Other ending of chief executive's guardianship 3
The chief executive's guardianship of the child under section 4
57 ends if-- 5
(a) a final adoption order for the child is made; or 6
(b) a court makes an order ending the chief executive's 7
guardianship of the child; or 8
(c) under a law of another jurisdiction, the chief executive 9
agrees to someone else having guardianship of the child 10
for the purpose of the child's adoption under that law. 11
62 Guardianship under Child Protection Act not affected 12
Nothing in this division affects the chief executive (child 13
safety)'s guardianship of a child under the Child Protection 14
Act 1999. 15
Division 3 Transfer of guardianship between 16
chief executive and corresponding 17
officer for another State 18
63 Corresponding officers 19
In this division-- 20
corresponding officer, for another State, means an officer 21
with powers and functions substantially corresponding to the 22
chief executive's powers and functions under this Act. 23
64 Chief executive may renounce guardianship 24
(1) This section applies if-- 25
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 3 Custody and guardianship of a child awaiting adoption
[s 65]
(a) the chief executive is a guardian of a child under section 1
57; and 2
(b) it is at least 30 days since the last consent required for 3
the adoption was given; and 4
(c) the chief executive has received a notice from a 5
corresponding officer for another State-- 6
(i) stating that the corresponding officer wishes to 7
arrange for the child's adoption in the other State; 8
and 9
(ii) asking the chief executive to renounce the chief 10
executive's guardianship of the child. 11
(2) If the chief executive is satisfied it would be in the child's best 12
interests, the chief executive may, by a signed document, 13
renounce the chief executive's guardianship of the child. 14
(3) Immediately after signing a document under subsection (2), 15
the chief executive must give to the corresponding officer the 16
document and all consents to the adoption of the child held by 17
the chief executive. 18
(4) When the chief executive gives the documents to the 19
corresponding officer, the chief executive stops having 20
guardianship of the child. 21
65 Chief executive may ask corresponding officer to 22
renounce guardianship 23
(1) This section applies if-- 24
(a) the chief executive wishes to arrange for a child's 25
adoption; and 26
(b) a corresponding officer for another State has 27
guardianship of the child under a law of the other State 28
substantially corresponding to section 57. 29
(2) The chief executive may ask the corresponding officer to give 30
the chief executive a document under which the officer 31
renounces the officer's guardianship of the child. 32
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 66]
(3) If the chief executive receives the document mentioned in 1
subsection (2), the chief executive becomes guardian of the 2
child. 3
Note-- 4
The chief executive may also ask the corresponding officer to give the 5
chief executive any of the following documents-- 6
· a consent to the adoption of the child given under the law of the 7
other State that is held by the officer 8
· a document mentioned in section 42. 9
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of 10
prospective adoptive parents 11
Division 1 Planning 12
66 Chief executive must plan for future need 13
The chief executive must plan continually for the future need 14
for adoptive parents by-- 15
(a) anticipating the numbers and characteristics of children 16
likely to need an adoptive placement by local adoption; 17
and 18
(b) anticipating the numbers and characteristics of children 19
likely to be placed for an intercountry adoption from 20
each country with which arrangements have been made 21
or with which it is anticipated arrangements will be 22
made; and 23
(c) anticipating what are likely to be the placement needs of 24
the children; and 25
(d) identifying the numbers and profiles of prospective 26
adoptive parents likely to be needed, having regard to 27
the matters mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c). 28
Page 49
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 67]
67 Deciding number of parents to be assessed 1
(1) At least once in each financial year, the chief executive must 2
decide the numbers of persons with different profiles that it 3
would be reasonable to assess for suitability to ensure there 4
are enough suitable prospective adoptive parents to meet the 5
needs identified under section 66(d). 6
(2) In deciding the number of persons it would be reasonable to 7
assess, the chief executive must have regard to the numbers 8
and profiles of persons currently listed in the suitable adoptive 9
parents register, and to the considerations that-- 10
(a) if too few persons with appropriate profiles are assessed, 11
the need for adoptive parents may not be met within a 12
reasonable time; and 13
(b) if too many persons with appropriate profiles are 14
assessed, this-- 15
(i) may be an inefficient use of resources; and 16
(ii) may unnecessarily raise the expectations of some 17
of the assessed persons about the likelihood of 18
their adopting a child; and 19
(iii) may unnecessarily intrude on the privacy or 20
personal affairs of the persons assessed who are 21
not likely to be required. 22
Division 2 Making expressions of interest 23
68 Who may make an expression of interest 24
(1) A couple may make an expression of interest in being 25
assessed for suitability to be adoptive parents. 26
(2) A person may not make an expression of interest unless the 27
person has a spouse and makes the expression of interest 28
jointly with the person's spouse. 29
(3) A person may not express an interest if-- 30
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 69]
(a) the person's name is already in the expression of interest 1
register or suitable adoptive parents register; or 2
(b) the person has custody of a child under an interim order. 3
69 Form 4
(1) A couple make an expression of interest by giving the chief 5
executive a notice in the approved form. 6
(2) The form must be signed by the couple and by each person 7
who is, at the time the form is given to the chief executive, an 8
adult member of the couple's household. 9
(3) The information that may be required by the approved form 10
includes the following for each member of the couple-- 11
(a) information demonstrating the person's eligibility to 12
have his or her name entered in the expression of 13
interest register; 14
(b) information demonstrating the person's compliance with 15
a requirement prescribed under section 71 or another 16
requirement under this division; 17
(c) information relating to the person's profile, including-- 18
(i) any preferences of the person relating to the 19
characteristics of a child whom the person is 20
willing to adopt; and 21
(ii) other information relevant to whether the person 22
would meet the anticipated placement needs of 23
children relevant to the expression of interest; 24
(d) information relevant to the person's suitability, 25
including information about the person's health and 26
personal history; 27
(e) membership of the person's household; 28
(f) information of which the person is aware, or that the 29
person reasonably suspects, about the personal history 30
of each adult member of the person's household. 31
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 70]
(4) The approved form must include information about the 1
assessment that will be carried out under part 6 if the couple 2
are selected for assessment under division 5. 3
70 Nomination relating to local or intercountry adoption 4
(1) An expression of interest must state whether it relates to a 5
local adoption, intercountry adoption or both. 6
(2) If a couple's expression of interest relates to an intercountry 7
adoption, it must state each country for which the couple wish 8
to be considered. 9
71 Other requirements for expressing an interest 10
(1) A regulation may prescribe requirements with which a couple 11
must comply before or when expressing an interest. 12
(2) A regulation may, for example, require that the couple must-- 13
(a) attend a departmental information session within a 14
stated time before expressing an interest; or 15
(b) when expressing an interest, be able to demonstrate-- 16
(i) an ability of one or both of them to personally care 17
for a child full-time for a stated period after the 18
child is placed with them; or 19
(ii) for an expression of interest relating to an 20
intercountry adoption--an ability to meet the full 21
cost of completing the adoption process within a 22
stated period. 23
(3) A regulation may set a fee payable for an information session 24
or other thing relating to a requirement under this section. 25
72 Person may express an interest despite previous 26
expressions 27
A person may express an interest even though the person has 28
previously expressed an interest, or purported to express an 29
interest, and-- 30
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 73]
(a) the person was not eligible or, for another reason, the 1
expression of interest or purported expression of interest 2
did not comply with this division; or 3
(b) the person's name was removed from the expression of 4
interest register. 5
73 Changes to current expression of interest or relevant 6
information 7
(1) A couple with a current expression of interest may, by giving 8
a notice to the chief executive, change-- 9
(a) their preferences relating to the characteristics of a child 10
who they are willing to adopt; or 11
(b) for an expression of interest relating to an intercountry 12
adoption, a country for which they wish to be 13
considered. 14
(2) A couple with a current expression of interest may notify the 15
chief executive of any other new information or changes in 16
information previously given to the chief executive. 17
Note-- 18
See sections 82 and 115 for the obligations to notify the chief executive 19
of new information, or changes in information previously given to the 20
chief executive, relevant to eligibility or suitability. 21
74 No expressions of interest while register is closed 22
An expression of interest may not be made while the 23
expression of interest register, or a part of the register to which 24
the expression of interest relates, is closed under division 4. 25
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 75]
Division 3 Expression of interest register 1
75 Expression of interest register 2
(1) The chief executive must keep a register of persons who have 3
made an expression of interest under division 2 (the 4
expression of interest register). 5
(2) The chief executive may only, and must, enter a person's 6
name in the register if-- 7
(a) the person and the person's spouse make an expression 8
of interest under division 2; and 9
(b) the chief executive is satisfied the person and the 10
person's spouse are eligible to have their names entered 11
in the expression of interest register. 12
76 Eligibility for inclusion in register 13
(1) A person is eligible to have his or her name entered or remain 14
in the expression of interest register if-- 15
(a) the person is an adult; and 16
(b) the person or the person's spouse is an Australian 17
citizen; and 18
(c) the person is resident or domiciled in Queensland; and 19
(d) for a woman, the person is not pregnant; and 20
(e) the person is not undergoing fertility treatment and has 21
not undergone fertility treatment within the previous 6 22
months; and 23
(f) the person does not have custody of-- 24
(i) a child aged less than 1 year; or 25
(ii) a child who has been in the person's custody for 26
less than 1 year; and 27
(g) the person has a spouse who-- 28
(i) is also eligible under paragraphs (a) to (f); and 29
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 77]
(ii) is not the same gender as the person; and 1
(iii) has been the person's spouse for at least 2 years; 2
and 3
(h) the person and the person's spouse-- 4
(i) are living together; and 5
(ii) lived together for a continuous period of at least 2 6
years up to the time they made an expression of 7
interest under division 2. 8
(2) Subsection (1)(f) does not include children of whom the 9
person is an approved carer. 10
77 Notice and information to persons entered in register 11
After entering a couple's names in the expression of interest 12
register, the chief executive must give them a notice-- 13
(a) stating that their names have been entered in the 14
register; and 15
(b) explaining the selection and assessment processes; and 16
(c) containing information about the fees and other costs 17
associated with the adoption process. 18
78 Notice to persons not entered in register 19
(1) This section applies if-- 20
(a) a person has made, or has purported to make, an 21
expression of interest under division 2; but 22
(b) the chief executive considers that, under section 75(2), 23
the person's name may not be entered in the expression 24
of interest register. 25
(2) The chief executive must give the person a notice (a show 26
cause notice) stating-- 27
(a) that the person's name has not been entered in the 28
register; and 29
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 79]
(b) why the person's name has not been entered in the 1
register; and 2
(c) that the person may, within a stated time of at least 28 3
days, give the chief executive a written response about 4
entering the person's name in the register. 5
(3) The chief executive must consider any response given by the 6
person within the time stated in the show cause notice before 7
deciding whether the person's name may be entered in the 8
register. 9
(4) If the chief executive decides the person's name may not be 10
entered in the register, the chief executive must give the 11
person an information notice for the decision. 12
79 Automatic removal from register 13
(1) The chief executive must remove a person's name from the 14
expression of interest register if-- 15
(a) it is 2 years since the person's name was entered in the 16
register and the person has not been given a notice under 17
section 91 stating that the person and the person's 18
spouse have been selected for assessment; or 19
(b) the person has given the chief executive a written 20
request to remove the person's name from the register; 21
or 22
(c) the name of the person's spouse is not in the register. 23
(2) After removing the person's name under this section, the chief 24
executive must give the person a notice stating-- 25
(a) that the person's name has been removed from the 26
register; and 27
(b) the reason for the removal. 28
Note-- 29
Also, if a person is selected for assessment, the person's name is 30
removed from the expression of interest register when the assessment is 31
complete. See section 136. 32
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 80]
80 Other removal from register 1
(1) The chief executive must remove a person's name from the 2
expression of interest register if-- 3
(a) the person or person's spouse is not eligible to have his 4
or her name remain in the register; or 5
(b) the person has not complied with a requirement under 6
section 112 to pay a prescribed fee or part of a 7
prescribed fee relating to an assessment of the person. 8
(2) The chief executive may remove a person's name from the 9
expression of interest register if-- 10
(a) the person does not comply with a notice under section 11
81 or 114 by the due day for the notice; or 12
(b) the person contravenes section 82 or 115; or 13
(c) the person gives information to the chief executive for 14
this Act that is false or misleading in a material 15
particular. 16
(3) Before removing a person's name from the register under this 17
section, the chief executive must give the person a notice (a 18
show cause notice) stating-- 19
(a) that the chief executive proposes to remove the name; 20
and 21
(b) the reason for the proposed removal; and 22
(c) that the person may, within a stated time of at least 28 23
days, give the chief executive a written response to the 24
proposed removal. 25
(4) The chief executive must consider any response given by the 26
person within the time stated in the show cause notice before 27
deciding whether to remove the person's name. 28
(5) If the chief executive decides not to remove the person's 29
name, the chief executive must give the person notice of the 30
decision. 31
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 81]
(6) If the chief executive decides to remove the person's name, 1
the chief executive must give the person an information notice 2
for the decision. 3
(7) For subsection (1)(a), a woman does not become ineligible to 4
have her name remain in the register on the ground of being 5
pregnant unless she is at least 14 weeks pregnant. 6
81 Chief executive may require further information 7
(1) This section applies to a person with a current expression of 8
interest. 9
(2) The person must give the chief executive any relevant 10
information that the chief executive reasonably requires to 11
decide whether the person-- 12
(a) is eligible to have his or her name remain in the 13
expression of interest register; or 14
(b) has complied with division 2. 15
(3) The chief executive may seek information mentioned in 16
subsection (2) by giving the person a notice stating-- 17
(a) the information that the chief executive requires; and 18
(b) the day by which the person must give the information 19
to the chief executive; and 20
(c) the consequence under subsection (7) if the information 21
is not given to the chief executive by the due day. 22
(4) The due day must be reasonable and, in any case, at least 14 23
days after the notice is given. 24
(5) The chief executive may withdraw the requirement, or part of 25
the requirement, at any time. 26
(6) On or before the due day for giving particular information, the 27
chief executive may give the person a further notice 28
substituting a later due day for giving the information if the 29
chief executive is satisfied it would be reasonable in all the 30
circumstances to do so. 31
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 82]
(7) The following applies if the person does not give required 1
information by its due day-- 2
(a) if the person's name has not been entered in the 3
expression of interest register, the person's expression of 4
interest lapses; 5
(b) if the person's name is in the expression of interest 6
register, the chief executive may remove the name under 7
section 80(2)(a); 8
(c) if the person's name is in the suitable adoptive parents 9
register, the chief executive may remove the name under 10
section 146(2)(b). 11
(8) In this section-- 12
due day, for giving information, means the day stated in the 13
notice under subsection (3)(b) or any later day substituted by 14
notice under subsection (6). 15
information includes a document. 16
82 Obligation to notify chief executive of changed or new 17
information relevant to eligibility 18
(1) This section applies if-- 19
(a) the person has given information about a matter to the 20
chief executive under this part or part 6; and 21
(b) the person becomes aware that the information has 22
changed or becomes aware of new information relating 23
to the matter; and 24
(c) the changed or new information is relevant to whether 25
the person is eligible to have his or her name entered or 26
remain in the expression of interest register. 27
(2) The person must immediately give the chief executive a notice 28
of the changed or new information. 29
Page 59
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 83]
83 Inclusion in register does not confer entitlement 1
Inclusion of a person's name in the expression of interest 2
register does not confer an entitlement on the person to be 3
assessed, or to be selected for assessment, for suitability to be 4
an adoptive parent. 5
Division 4 Closing and re-opening expression 6
of interest register 7
84 Chief executive may close register 8
(1) The chief executive may close the expression of interest 9
register, or a part of the register, if satisfied the number of 10
persons listed in the register, having regard to their profiles, is 11
significantly higher than the number needed to meet the 12
anticipated need for adoptive parents. 13
(2) The chief executive may act under subsection (1) in relation 14
to-- 15
(a) the whole of the register; or 16
(b) a part of the register relating to-- 17
(i) local adoptions; or 18
(ii) intercountry adoptions; or 19
(iii) intercountry adoptions from a stated country; or 20
(iv) adoptions of children with stated characteristics. 21
(3) The reference in subsection (1) to the anticipated need for 22
adoptive parents includes, for intercountry adoptions from a 23
particular country, the extent to which applications or 24
expressions of interest from Australian couples are being 25
received at the relevant time by the country's competent 26
authority. 27
Page 60
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 85]
85 Notice of closure 1
(1) At least 30 days before closing the expression of interest 2
register or a part of the register, the chief executive must 3
publish, in a newspaper circulating throughout the State, 4
notice of-- 5
(a) the extent of the closure; and 6
(b) the reason for the closure; and 7
(c) the last day for giving an expression of interest to the 8
chief executive before the closure. 9
(2) The notice may include any other information the chief 10
executive considers appropriate. 11
Example-- 12
If there is a time at which the chief executive anticipates the register or 13
part of the register will be re-opened, the notice may state that time. 14
(3) The chief executive may also publish the notice in other ways 15
the chief executive considers appropriate. 16
86 Periodic review of closure 17
From time to time while the expression of interest register or a 18
part of the register is closed, at intervals of not more than 6 19
months, the chief executive must consider whether the closure 20
remains appropriate. 21
87 Re-opening the register 22
(1) The chief executive may re-open the expression of interest 23
register or part of the register if satisfied it would be 24
appropriate to do so, having regard to the matters stated in 25
section 84. 26
(2) The chief executive must publish notice of the re-opening in a 27
newspaper circulating throughout the State and in any other 28
way the chief executive considers appropriate. 29
Page 61
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 88]
Division 5 Selections for assessment 1
88 Selection to meet anticipated future need 2
(1) From time to time, the chief executive must select persons 3
from the expression of interest register to be assessed for 4
suitability to be an adoptive parent. 5
(2) The purpose of selections under this section is to ensure the 6
likely future need for adoptive parents identified in planning 7
under division 1 may be met. 8
(3) The chief executive must select appropriate numbers of 9
persons, with appropriate profiles, according to the likely 10
need relating to local adoptions and the likely need relating to 11
intercountry adoptions for each relevant country. 12
(4) The chief executive must be satisfied the persons selected are, 13
based on their profiles, likely to meet the anticipated 14
placement needs of children to be adopted. 15
Note-- 16
The placement needs of children to be adopted by an intercountry 17
adoption are determined having regard to matters that include the 18
requirements of the competent authority for the country that apply to 19
prospective adoptive parents of children from the country. See schedule 20
3, definition placement needs, paragraph (c). 21
(5) Subject to subsection (4), the chief executive may, in deciding 22
whom to select, give priority to-- 23
(a) a person with the same ethnic background as children to 24
be adopted; or 25
(b) a person who has previously adopted a child with 26
similar placement needs as children to be adopted; or 27
(c) a person with the earliest relevant expression of interest. 28
(6) In this section-- 29
relevant expression of interest, for a person, means-- 30
(a) if the person's name has previously been removed from 31
the expression of interest register under section 79(1)(a), 32
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 89]
the expression of interest for which the person's name 1
had been entered in the register; or 2
(b) otherwise, the person's current expression of interest. 3
89 Selection to meet needs of particular child 4
(1) This section applies if the chief executive anticipates a 5
particular child will need an adoptive placement. 6
(2) To ensure the child's placement needs are met, the chief 7
executive may select 1 or more persons under this section to 8
be assessed for suitability to be an adoptive parent of the 9
child. 10
(3) If the child has an approved carer, the chief executive may 11
select the approved carer. 12
(4) If a sibling of the child has been adopted, the chief executive 13
may select a person who adopted the sibling. 14
(5) If the chief executive considers there is no-one listed in the 15
suitable adoptive parents register who is likely to meet the 16
anticipated placement needs of the child, the chief executive 17
may select anyone who the chief executive considers is likely 18
to meet the anticipated placement needs of the child. 19
Examples of persons who may be likely to meet the anticipated placement 20
needs of a child-- 21
· for a child with a disability, a person who has previously expressed 22
an interest in adopting a child with a disability 23
· for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, a person from the 24
child's community or language group 25
(6) A person may be selected under this section even if the 26
person-- 27
(a) does not have a conforming expression of interest; or 28
(b) is not listed in the expression of interest register; or 29
(c) does not have a spouse. 30
(7) However-- 31
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 4 Recruitment and selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 90]
(a) the chief executive may select a person listed in the 1
expression of interest register who does not have a 2
conforming expression of interest only if the person 3
agrees to being selected; and 4
(b) the chief executive may select a person who is not listed 5
in the expression of interest register only if-- 6
(i) the person agrees to being selected; and 7
(ii) the person is an adult; and 8
(iii) the person is an Australian citizen or has a spouse 9
who is an Australian citizen; and 10
(iv) the person is resident or domiciled in Queensland; 11
and 12
(v) for a person who has a spouse-- 13
(A) the spouse is not the same gender as the 14
person; and 15
(B) the person and the spouse are living together. 16
(8) In this section-- 17
conforming expression of interest, in relation to a child, 18
means a current expression of interest that-- 19
(a) relates to a local adoption or an intercountry adoption 20
from a particular country, whichever is relevant to the 21
child; and 22
(b) contains preferences that are consistent with the child's 23
characteristics. 24
90 Joint selection of spouses 25
If a person has a spouse, the chief executive may only select 26
the person for assessment jointly with the person's spouse. 27
91 Notice of selection and fees 28
(1) Immediately after selecting a person for assessment, the chief 29
executive must give the person a notice of the selection. 30
Page 64
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 5 Application by person wishing to adopt stepchild
[s 92]
(2) The notice must include information about the fees payable 1
under section 112. 2
Part 5 Application by person wishing 3
to adopt stepchild 4
Division 1 Making an application 5
92 Who may apply 6
(1) A person may apply to the chief executive to arrange an 7
adoption by the person of a stated child if-- 8
(a) the person is the spouse of a parent of the child; and 9
(b) the person, the person's spouse and the child are living 10
together; and 11
(c) paragraphs (a) and (b) have applied for a continuous 12
period of at least 3 years up to the time of the 13
application; and 14
(d) the person has been granted leave under the Family Law 15
Act 1975 (Cwlth), section 60G(1); and 16
(e) the person is an adult; and 17
(f) the person or the person's spouse is an Australian 18
citizen; and 19
(g) the person is resident or domiciled in Queensland; and 20
(h) the person's spouse is not the same gender as the person; 21
and 22
(i) the child is at least 5 years old and has not yet turned 17. 23
(2) Despite subsection (1)(i), the chief executive may accept an 24
application relating to a child who has turned 17 if the chief 25
executive considers-- 26
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 5 Application by person wishing to adopt stepchild
[s 93]
(a) there is enough time to complete the adoption process 1
before the child turns 18; and 2
Note-- 3
An adult may not be adopted. See section 10(3). 4
(b) the grounds for making an adoption order in favour of 5
the applicant are likely to exist. 6
(3) In this section-- 7
parent does not include guardian. 8
93 Requirements for application 9
The application must be-- 10
(a) in the approved form; and 11
(b) signed by the applicant, the applicant's spouse and each 12
adult member of the applicant's household; and 13
(c) accompanied by the fee prescribed under a regulation. 14
94 Refusal of application 15
(1) The chief executive must refuse an application made, or 16
purportedly made, by a person under section 92 if the chief 17
executive is satisfied-- 18
(a) the person may not make the application under that 19
section; or 20
(b) if relevant, the application should not be accepted under 21
section 92(2). 22
(2) If the chief executive proposes to refuse the application, the 23
chief executive must give the person a notice (a show cause 24
notice) stating-- 25
(a) why it is proposed to refuse the application; and 26
(b) that the person may give the chief executive a written 27
response within a stated time of at least 28 days. 28
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 5 Application by person wishing to adopt stepchild
[s 95]
(3) The chief executive must consider any response given by the 1
person within the time stated in the show cause notice before 2
deciding whether to refuse the application. 3
(4) If the chief executive decides to refuse the application, the 4
chief executive must give the person an information notice for 5
the decision. 6
95 Obligation to notify chief executive of changed or new 7
information relevant to application 8
(1) This section applies if-- 9
(a) the person has given information about a matter to the 10
chief executive under this part or part 6; and 11
(b) the person becomes aware that the information has 12
changed or becomes aware of new information relating 13
to the matter; and 14
(c) the changed or new information is relevant to a matter 15
stated in section 92(1). 16
(2) The person must immediately give the chief executive a notice 17
of the changed or new information. 18
Division 2 How chief executive must deal with 19
accepted application 20
96 Definitions for div 2 21
In this division-- 22
consent means consent to the proposed adoption given under 23
part 2. 24
dispensation application means an application under part 2, 25
division 6, for an order dispensing with the need for a parent's 26
consent. 27
parent, of a child, does not include a person if, under section 28
39, a court has dispensed with the need for the person's 29
consent to the child's adoption. 30
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 5 Application by person wishing to adopt stepchild
[s 97]
97 Application of div 2 1
This division applies to an application made under division 1 2
unless the chief executive decides under section 94 to refuse 3
the application. 4
98 Obtaining consents 5
(1) The chief executive must take steps to obtain the consent of 6
each parent. 7
(2) If the chief executive obtains the consent of each parent, the 8
chief executive must assess the applicant under part 6. 9
99 All consents not obtained 10
(1) This section applies if the chief executive-- 11
(a) becomes aware that a parent does not wish to give his or 12
her consent; or 13
(b) can not establish the identity of a parent after making all 14
reasonable enquiries; or 15
(c) can not locate a parent after making all reasonable 16
enquiries. 17
(2) The chief executive must notify the applicant that, for the 18
relevant reason mentioned in subsection (1)(a) to (c), the chief 19
executive has not obtained the consent of each parent. 20
(3) Then the chief executive must not deal further with the 21
application unless-- 22
(a) the chief executive becomes aware that the parent 23
wishes to give the consent, or identifies the parent, or 24
locates the parent, whichever is relevant; or 25
(b) the applicant makes a dispensation application. 26
(4) If the applicant makes a dispensation application, the chief 27
executive may proceed to assess the applicant under part 6, 28
pending the result of the dispensation application, as if each 29
consent had been obtained. 30
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 100]
100 Lapsing of application 1
(1) If an application under this part has been inactive for 6 2
months, the application lapses. 3
(2) For subsection (1), an application is inactive if the chief 4
executive is not dealing with it and, under section 99, must not 5
deal further with it or, under section 114(6)(b), is not required 6
to deal further with it. 7
Part 6 Assessment of prospective 8
adoptive parents 9
Division 1 Preliminary 10
101 Who is assessed 11
(1) The chief executive must assess a person under this part if-- 12
(a) the person is selected for assessment under part 4, 13
division 5; or 14
(b) the assessment is required under section 98(2). 15
(2) Subsection (1) applies subject to section 112(4). 16
(3) The chief executive must not assess a person under this part 17
unless the assessment is required under subsection (1) or 18
allowed under section 99(4) or division 8. 19
102 Suitable adoptive parents register 20
The chief executive must keep a register (the suitable adoptive 21
parents register) for this part. 22
Page 69
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 103]
103 This part applies despite the Criminal Law (Rehabilitation 1
of Offenders) Act 1986 2
This part applies to a person despite anything in the Criminal 3
Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 1986. 4
Division 2 Purpose and scope of assessment 5
104 Purpose of assessment 6
The purpose of assessing a person is to decide if he or she is 7
suitable to be an adoptive parent. 8
105 Scope of assessment--persons selected to meet 9
anticipated future need 10
(1) This section applies to a person selected for assessment under 11
section 88. 12
(2) The chief executive must decide the person's suitability to be 13
an adoptive parent generally. 14
(3) If the chief executive considers it appropriate, the chief 15
executive may also decide the person's suitability to be an 16
adoptive parent of a child with particular characteristics. 17
(4) In deciding whether it would be appropriate to make a 18
decision mentioned in subsection (3), the chief executive must 19
consider-- 20
(a) the person's current expression of interest; and 21
(b) the likely future need for adoptive parents. 22
106 Scope of assessment--persons selected to meet needs 23
of particular child 24
(1) This section applies to a person selected for assessment under 25
section 89 in relation to the anticipated placement needs of a 26
particular child (the relevant child). 27
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 107]
(2) The chief executive must decide the person's suitability to be 1
an adoptive parent of the relevant child. 2
(3) If the chief executive considers it appropriate, the chief 3
executive may also decide-- 4
(a) the person's suitability to be an adoptive parent of a 5
child with particular characteristics other than those of 6
the relevant child; or 7
(b) the person's suitability to be an adoptive parent 8
generally. 9
(4) In deciding whether it would be appropriate to make a 10
decision mentioned in subsection (3), the chief executive must 11
consider-- 12
(a) the person's current expression of interest, if any; and 13
(b) the likely future need for adoptive parents. 14
107 Scope of assessment--persons wishing to adopt 15
stepchild 16
(1) This section applies to the assessment of a person who has 17
made an application under part 5. 18
(2) The chief executive must decide the person's suitability to be 19
an adoptive parent of the child whom the person wishes to 20
adopt. 21
Division 3 Assessment process 22
108 Joint assessment of a couple 23
(1) If a person being assessed has a spouse, the assessment must 24
be made of the person and the person's spouse jointly. 25
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person being assessed after 26
making an application under part 5. 27
Page 71
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 109]
109 Assessment process 1
(1) To assess a person, the chief executive must-- 2
(a) obtain relevant information under division 4; and 3
(b) assess the person's suitability on the bases stated in 4
division 5; and 5
(c) prepare a preliminary report about the person's 6
suitability; and 7
(d) give to the person-- 8
(i) a copy of the report; and 9
(ii) a notice inviting the person to give the chief 10
executive, within a stated period of at least 28 days, 11
a written response to the report, including 12
corrections or comments about the matters stated 13
in the report; and 14
(e) after considering the person's response, if any, decide 15
whether the person is suitable. 16
Note-- 17
See division 6 for the steps following the chief executive's decision. 18
(2) If, in the course of carrying out the assessment mentioned in 19
subsection (1)(b), the chief executive is satisfied there is an 20
unacceptable risk mentioned in section 121, the chief 21
executive must prepare a preliminary report stating that the 22
person is unsuitable without any further assessment under 23
division 5. 24
(3) If, in carrying out the assessment mentioned in subsection 25
(1)(b), the chief executive is satisfied the person is unsuitable 26
on any of the other bases stated in division 5 (for example, 27
because the person does not have the health required under 28
section 122), the chief executive may prepare a preliminary 29
report stating that the person is unsuitable without any further 30
assessment under division 5. 31
(4) The chief executive must comply with subsection (1)(d) and 32
(e) even if the scope of the assessment is limited under 33
subsection (2) or (3). 34
Page 72
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 110]
110 Timing and pace of assessment 1
The chief executive may assess a person over the period, and 2
at the rate of progress, that the chief executive considers 3
appropriate, having regard to-- 4
(a) the need to carry out the assessment efficiently, 5
thoroughly, to a high standard and in compliance with 6
this Act; and 7
(b) the need to be fair to the person; and 8
(c) whether it would be appropriate to repeat a stage of the 9
assessment process; and 10
(d) the timing of a possible application for an adoption 11
order in favour of the person if the person is decided to 12
be suitable. 13
111 Consent of household members to assessment 14
(1) The assessment of a person under this part includes an 15
assessment of certain matters relating to members of the 16
person's household. 17
Note-- 18
Under section 121, a person may be unsuitable because of the risk posed 19
by a member of the person's household. 20
(2) An adult member of the person's household may give written 21
consent to being assessed under this part by signing the 22
person's expression of interest or by signing the person's 23
application under part 5 or in another way. 24
(3) If an adult member of the person's household has not given 25
written consent to being assessed under this part-- 26
(a) the chief executive may not ask the police commissioner 27
under section 116 for information, or access to the 28
police commissioner's records, relating to the household 29
member; and 30
(b) the chief executive may not ask the chief executive 31
(transport) under section 117 for a written report about 32
the household member's traffic history. 33
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 112]
(4) If an adult member of the person's household refuses to give 1
written consent to being assessed under this part, section 2
114(6) applies as if the person had failed to give information 3
required under that section within the required time. 4
112 Fees 5
(1) A regulation may prescribe fees for an assessment under this 6
part. 7
(2) A person being, or to be, assessed under this part must pay a 8
prescribed fee, or part of a prescribed fee, (the required 9
amount) when required by the chief executive. 10
(3) The requirement must be written and must state-- 11
(a) the reasonable time within which the required amount 12
must be paid; and 13
(b) the consequences of non-payment under this section and 14
section 80(1)(b). 15
(4) The chief executive need not assess the person, or continue 16
assessing the person, until the required amount is paid. 17
(5) The chief executive must not enter the person's name in the 18
suitable adoptive parents register if the required amount is not 19
paid. 20
(6) An amount stops being a required amount to the extent the 21
chief executive waives payment of it. 22
Division 4 Information to assess suitability 23
113 Application of div 4 24
This division applies to a person-- 25
(a) being assessed under this part; or 26
(b) whose name is in the suitable adoptive parents register; 27
or 28
(c) for whom an interim order is in force. 29
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 114]
114 Chief executive may require information 1
(1) The person must give the chief executive any relevant 2
information that the chief executive reasonably requires to 3
assess the person's suitability. 4
Examples of relevant information-- 5
1 a report about the person's health, in the approved form, completed 6
by a doctor who has examined the person 7
2 a further report or opinion, from a specialist or other doctor, about a 8
stated medical condition or other stated aspect of the person's 9
health 10
3 a copy of a bench charge sheet, trial transcript or other document 11
containing information relating to a charge or conviction of the 12
person or a member of the person's household 13
(2) The chief executive may give the person a notice stating-- 14
(a) the information that the chief executive requires; and 15
(b) the day by which the person must give the information 16
to the chief executive; and 17
(c) the consequence under subsection (6) if the person does 18
not give the information to the chief executive by the 19
due day. 20
(3) The due day must be reasonable and, in any case, at least 14 21
days after the requirement is made. 22
(4) The chief executive may withdraw the requirement, or part of 23
the requirement, at any time. 24
(5) On or before the due day for giving particular information, the 25
chief executive may give the person a further notice 26
substituting a later due day for giving the information if the 27
chief executive is satisfied it would be reasonable in all the 28
circumstances to do so. 29
(6) The following applies if the person does not give required 30
information by its due day-- 31
(a) if the person's name is in the expression of interest 32
register, the chief executive may revoke the selection of 33
the person for assessment and remove the name from the 34
register under section 80(2)(a); 35
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 115]
(b) if the person is an applicant under part 5, the chief 1
executive is not required to deal further with the 2
application; 3
(c) if the person's name is in the suitable adoptive parents 4
register, the chief executive may remove the name from 5
the register under section 146(2)(b); 6
(d) if an interim order for the person is in force, the chief 7
executive may have regard to the non-compliance in 8
making a decision about an application to the court 9
relating to the interim order or a final adoption order. 10
(7) In this section-- 11
due day, for giving information, means the day stated in the 12
notice under subsection (2)(b) or any later day substituted by 13
notice under subsection (5). 14
information includes a document. 15
115 Obligation to notify chief executive of changed or new 16
information relevant to eligibility or suitability 17
(1) This section applies if-- 18
(a) the person has given information about a matter to the 19
chief executive under this part or part 4 or 5; and 20
(b) the person becomes aware that the information has 21
changed or becomes aware of new information relating 22
to the matter; and 23
(c) the changed or new information is relevant to the 24
person's suitability to be an adoptive parent. 25
(2) The person must immediately give the chief executive a notice 26
of the changed or new information. 27
(3) Without limiting subsection (1), the person must give notice 28
of a change in-- 29
(a) the person's personal history; or 30
(b) the membership of the person's household; or 31
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 116]
(c) information of which the person is aware, or that the 1
person reasonably suspects, about the personal history 2
of an adult member of the person's household. 3
(4) A reference in this section to a change in a person's personal 4
history includes, for a person with no personal history, the 5
acquisition of a personal history. 6
116 Police information 7
(1) The chief executive may ask the police commissioner for 8
information, or for access to the police commissioner's 9
records, to enable the chief executive to learn what police 10
information exists, if any, in relation to the person or an adult 11
member of the person's household. 12
(2) If there is police information about the person or household 13
member, the chief executive may ask the police commissioner 14
for a brief description of-- 15
(a) the circumstances of a conviction, charge or order 16
mentioned in the police information; or 17
(b) investigative information mentioned in the police 18
information. 19
(3) The police commissioner must comply with a request under 20
subsection (1) or (2). 21
(4) However, the duty imposed on the police commissioner to 22
comply with a request for information applies only to 23
information in the police commissioner's possession or to 24
which the police commissioner has access. 25
(5) The police commissioner need not give investigative 26
information, or give access to a record containing 27
investigative information, about the person or household 28
member to the chief executive under this section if the police 29
commissioner is reasonably satisfied that giving the 30
information or access may do any of the following-- 31
(a) prejudice the investigation of a contravention or possible 32
contravention of the law in a particular case; 33
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 117]
(b) enable the existence or identity of a confidential source 1
of information, in relation to the enforcement or 2
administration of the law, to be ascertained; 3
(c) endanger a person's life or physical safety; 4
(d) prejudice the effectiveness of a lawful method or 5
procedure for preventing, detecting, investigating or 6
dealing with a contravention or possible contravention 7
of the law. 8
(6) In this section-- 9
police information, about a person, means the following-- 10
(a) the person's criminal history; 11
(b) investigative information about the person; 12
(c) the person's domestic violence history; 13
(d) information as to whether the person is or has been-- 14
(i) the subject of a disqualification order; or 15
(ii) the respondent for an offender prohibition order. 16
117 Traffic information 17
(1) The chief executive may ask the chief executive (transport) 18
for a written report about the traffic history of the person or an 19
adult member of the person's household. 20
(2) The chief executive (transport) must comply with the request 21
despite the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) 22
Act 1995, section 77. 23
118 Consultation with appropriate Aboriginal or Torres Strait 24
Islander person 25
(1) This section applies if the person is being assessed for 26
suitability to be an adoptive parent of a child who is, or 27
children who include, an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander 28
child. 29
Page 78
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 119]
(2) The chief executive must consult with an appropriate 1
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person about-- 2
(a) Aboriginal tradition or Island custom relating to the 3
child; and 4
(b) the person's suitability. 5
119 Other information gathering 6
The chief executive may make enquiries and gather 7
information in other ways the chief executive considers 8
appropriate, including any of the following-- 9
(a) talking with the person; 10
(b) asking the person to attend and participate in a 11
workshop or similar educational activity conducted by 12
the department; 13
(c) visiting the person's home; 14
(d) talking with members of the person's family or 15
household; 16
(e) talking with referees nominated by the person; 17
(f) talking with anyone else with information relevant to the 18
person's suitability; 19
(g) obtaining expert advice about relevant health, 20
psychological or social matters; 21
(h) asking the person to prepare documents, for example, a 22
profile of the person's family; 23
(i) lawfully obtaining information from the department or 24
other departments. 25
Page 79
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 120]
Division 5 Bases for deciding suitability 1
120 Application of div 5 2
This division states how the chief executive must decide 3
whether a person is suitable to be an adoptive parent. 4
121 Unacceptable risk of harm 5
(1) The chief executive must decide if the person or any member 6
of the person's household would pose an unacceptable risk of 7
harming a child adopted by the person. 8
(2) The chief executive must consider, in particular, any personal 9
history of the person or of an adult member of the person's 10
household. 11
(3) The chief executive must decide there is an unacceptable risk 12
for subsection (1) if the person or an adult member of the 13
person's household-- 14
(a) has been convicted of a disqualifying offence for which 15
an imprisonment order was imposed; or 16
(b) is subject to-- 17
(i) reporting obligations under the Child Protection 18
(Offender Prohibition Order) Act 2008; or 19
(ii) an offender prohibition order; or 20
(iii) a disqualification order; or 21
(c) has been convicted of a serious offence. 22
(4) Subsection (3)(c) does not apply if the chief executive is 23
satisfied it is an exceptional case in which it would not harm 24
the best interests of a child to be adopted by the person. 25
(5) Subject to subsection (3), if the chief executive is aware that 26
the person or a member of the person's household has been 27
convicted of, or charged with, an offence, the chief executive 28
must have regard to the following-- 29
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 122]
(a) in relation to the commission, or alleged commission, of 1
an offence by the person or household member-- 2
(i) whether it is a conviction or a charge; and 3
(ii) whether the offence is a serious offence and, if it is, 4
whether it is a disqualifying offence; and 5
(iii) when the offence was committed or is alleged to 6
have been committed; and 7
(iv) the nature of the offence and its relevance to 8
adopting children; and 9
(v) in the case of a conviction--the penalty imposed 10
by the court and if it decided not to impose an 11
imprisonment order for the offence, or decided not 12
to make a disqualification order, the court's 13
reasons for its decision; 14
(b) anything else relating to the commission, or alleged 15
commission, of the offence that the chief executive 16
reasonably considers to be relevant to the assessment of 17
the risk mentioned in subsection (1). 18
(6) If the chief executive is aware of investigative information 19
about the person or a member of the person's household, the 20
chief executive must have regard to the following-- 21
(a) when the acts or omissions constituting the alleged 22
offence to which the investigative information relates 23
were committed; 24
(b) anything else relating to the commission of the acts or 25
omissions that the chief executive reasonably considers 26
relevant to the assessment of the risk mentioned in 27
subsection (1). 28
122 Health 29
(1) The chief executive must be satisfied the person has good 30
health to provide stable, high level care for a child until 31
adulthood. 32
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 123]
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the person does not have 1
good health for subsection (1) if the person has a disqualifying 2
condition. 3
(3) If the person has a condition other than a disqualifying 4
condition, the chief executive must have regard to-- 5
(a) its effect on the level of care the person will be able to 6
provide to an adopted child, without help from someone 7
else, and the time for which the person is likely to be 8
able to provide the care; and 9
(b) whether the person needs a carer or is likely to need a 10
carer in the future; and 11
(c) whether the condition is likely to have an adverse 12
impact on an adopted child's wellbeing or best interests. 13
(4) In this section-- 14
condition means-- 15
(a) a disability or impairment; or 16
(b) an illness or anything else that affects a person's health. 17
disqualifying condition means a condition prescribed under a 18
regulation to be a disqualifying condition for this section. 19
health means physical, psychological and mental health. 20
123 Guiding principles 21
The chief executive must have regard to the guiding principles 22
under section 6. 23
124 Capacity to be adoptive parent generally 24
The chief executive must have regard to the person's capacity 25
to be an adoptive parent, including-- 26
(a) the person's psychological capacity and other personal 27
qualities; and 28
(b) the person's financial stability and other financial 29
capacity; and 30
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[s 125]
(c) the person's willingness and ability to ensure a child's 1
safety and wellbeing; and 2
(d) anything else relevant to the person's capacity to provide 3
for a child's emotional, physical, educational, 4
recreational and social needs. 5
125 Good character 6
The chief executive must be satisfied the person is of good 7
character. 8
126 Attitudes to children and parenting 9
The chief executive must have regard to the person's attitudes 10
to, and understanding of-- 11
(a) children and their physical and emotional development; 12
and 13
(b) the responsibilities and duties of parenthood. 14
127 Adoptive parenting 15
The chief executive must have regard to the person's attitudes 16
to, and understanding of, the issues relevant to adoptive 17
parenting, including-- 18
(a) issues about informing a child of his or her adoption; 19
and 20
(b) the significance to an adopted child of his or her birth 21
parents and their families; and 22
(c) the importance of developing and maintaining 23
relationships with an adopted child's birth parents and 24
their families, through an open adoption arrangement, so 25
far as this is possible and in the child's best interests. 26
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[s 128]
128 Quality of relationship with spouse 1
If the person has a spouse, the chief executive must have 2
regard to the quality of the person's relationship with his or 3
her spouse, including the duration and stability of the 4
relationship. 5
129 Infertility 6
If the person is infertile or has a spouse who is infertile, the 7
chief executive must have regard to the person's adjustment 8
to, and acceptance of, the infertility. 9
130 Matters relating to step-parent 10
(1) This section applies if the person is being assessed because 11
the person has made an application under part 5 relating to the 12
proposed adoption of a child of whom the person is a 13
step-parent. 14
(2) The chief executive must have regard to the nature, closeness 15
and quality of the child's relationship with the person and 16
members of the person's household. 17
131 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children 18
(1) This section applies if the chief executive is making a decision 19
about the person's suitability to be an adoptive parent of a 20
child who is, or children who include, an Aboriginal or Torres 21
Strait Islander child. 22
(2) The chief executive must have regard to the person's ability 23
and willingness to-- 24
(a) help the child to maintain contact with the child's 25
community or language group; and 26
(b) help the child to develop and maintain a connection with 27
the child's Aboriginal tradition or Island custom; and 28
(c) preserve and enhance the child's sense of Aboriginal or 29
Torres Strait Islander identity. 30
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[s 132]
(3) If the chief executive is making a decision about the person's 1
suitability to be an adoptive parent of a particular Aboriginal 2
or Torres Strait Islander child, the chief executive must have 3
regard to the person's links with, and standing in, the child's 4
community or language group. 5
132 Other cultural matters 6
(1) This section applies if the chief executive is making a decision 7
about the person's suitability to be an adoptive parent of a 8
child who is, or children who include, a child of a particular 9
ethnic or other cultural background. 10
(2) The chief executive must have regard to the person's ability 11
and willingness to-- 12
(a) understand the child's background; and 13
(b) help the child to maintain contact with the child's 14
community or language group; and 15
(c) help the child to develop and maintain a connection with 16
the child's ethnicity or culture; and 17
(d) preserve and enhance the child's sense of ethnic or 18
cultural identity. 19
(3) If the person has a current expression of interest that relates to 20
an intercountry adoption from a particular country, the chief 21
executive must have regard to-- 22
(a) the person's attitudes to, and understanding of, the 23
country and its culture; and 24
(b) the person's ability and willingness, if the person 25
adopted a child from the country, to-- 26
(i) continue to learn about the country and its culture; 27
and 28
(ii) help the child learn about the country and its 29
culture. 30
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Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 133]
133 Other prescribed matters 1
The chief executive must have regard to any other matters 2
prescribed under a regulation. 3
Division 6 Action following decision 4
134 Application of div 6 5
This division applies after the chief executive decides whether 6
a person is suitable to be an adoptive parent. 7
135 Chief executive must give notice of decision 8
(1) The chief executive must give to the person a notice of the 9
decision. 10
(2) The notice must state the reasons for the decision and the 11
information on which it is based. 12
(3) For a person assessed jointly with the person's spouse, the 13
notice must include the decisions for both the person and the 14
person's spouse. 15
(4) If the chief executive decides the person is not suitable to be 16
an adoptive parent, the chief executive must give the person an 17
information notice for the decision. 18
136 Removal from expression of interest register 19
If the person's name is in the expression of interest register, 20
the chief executive must remove the name from that register. 21
137 Entry in suitable adoptive parents register 22
(1) This section applies if-- 23
(a) the person was assessed after being selected under part 24
4, division 5; and 25
(b) the decision is that the person is suitable; and 26
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Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 138]
(c) for a person assessed jointly with the person's spouse, 1
the decision is that the person's spouse is suitable. 2
(2) The chief executive must enter the person's name in the 3
suitable adoptive parents register. 4
138 Preparation of report 5
(1) This section applies if-- 6
(a) the person was assessed after making an application 7
under part 5; and 8
(b) the decision is that the person is suitable. 9
(2) The chief executive must prepare a report for the Childrens 10
Court stating-- 11
(a) that the person has been assessed as suitable; and 12
(b) whether the chief executive considers-- 13
(i) an order for the child's adoption by the person 14
would better serve the child's interests than an 15
order under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cwlth), any 16
other court order or no court order; and 17
(ii) there are exceptional circumstances that warrant 18
the making of the order. 19
(3) In deciding a matter under subsection (2)(b), the chief 20
executive must consider-- 21
(a) the circumstances in which the child came to be living 22
with the person; and 23
(b) the likely effect on the child, both through childhood 24
and the rest of his or her life, of permanently ending the 25
parent-child relationship between the child's biological 26
parents and the child (even if the biological parents are 27
no longer living) or another parent-child relationship 28
that would be ended by the making of an adoption order. 29
(4) The chief executive must give the person a copy of the report. 30
(5) In this section-- 31
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[s 139]
suitable means suitable to be an adoptive parent of the child 1
whom the person wishes to adopt. 2
Division 7 Interstate register 3
139 Registration of person on interstate register 4
(1) This section applies if-- 5
(a) a person gives the chief executive a signed application in 6
the approved form to have the person's name entered in 7
the suitable adoptive parents register; and 8
(b) at the time the application is given, the person's name is 9
in an interstate register; and 10
(c) the person is eligible under section 76 to have his or her 11
name entered in the expression of interest register. 12
(2) The chief executive must enter the person's name in the 13
suitable adoptive parents register. 14
(3) This Act applies in relation to the person as if-- 15
(a) the person's application under subsection (1)(a) were 16
the person's current expression of interest; and 17
(b) the chief executive assessed the person, after selecting 18
the person from the expression of interest register under 19
section 88 and decided the person was suitable to be an 20
adoptive parent generally. 21
(4) In this section-- 22
interstate register means a register kept under a law of 23
another State substantially corresponding to the suitable 24
adoptive parents register. 25
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 140]
Division 8 Re-assessment of person listed in 1
suitable adoptive parents register 2
140 When a person may be re-assessed 3
(1) This section applies to a person listed in the suitable adoptive 4
parents register. 5
(2) The chief executive may re-assess the person if-- 6
(a) the chief executive becomes aware of further 7
information about the person or a member of the 8
person's household, or of a change in the person's 9
circumstances, that may be relevant to the person's 10
suitability; or 11
(b) because of the time that has passed since the person's 12
assessment, the chief executive considers it would be 13
appropriate to re-assess the person; or 14
(c) the re-assessment is required to meet the requirements 15
for an intercountry adoption from a country to which the 16
person's current expression of interest relates; or 17
(d) the chief executive is considering selecting the person 18
under part 7 as a child's prospective adoptive parent but 19
considers it would be appropriate to first assess the 20
person's suitability to be an adoptive parent of a child 21
with particular characteristics. 22
141 Conduct of re-assessment 23
Subject to this division, this part applies to the re-assessment 24
as if it were an original assessment of the person. 25
142 Re-assessment may be limited 26
Having regard to the reason for the re-assessment, the chief 27
executive must decide whether the matters relating to the 28
person's suitability that are to be considered in the 29
re-assessment are-- 30
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 143]
(a) all matters that would be considered if the re-assessment 1
were an original assessment of the person; or 2
(b) only particular matters relevant to the reason for the 3
re-assessment. 4
143 Notice of re-assessment 5
Before starting the re-assessment, the chief executive must 6
give the person a notice stating-- 7
(a) that the person is being re-assessed; and 8
(b) the reasons for the re-assessment; and 9
(c) the matters relating to the person's suitability that are to 10
be considered in the re-assessment. 11
Division 9 Removal from suitable adoptive 12
parents register 13
144 Automatic removal from register 14
The chief executive must remove a person's name from the 15
suitable adoptive parents register if-- 16
(a) a final adoption order is made in favour of the person 17
under this Act; or 18
(b) the person is selected from the suitable adoptive parents 19
register as a prospective adoptive parent by the 20
competent authority for another country, under 21
arrangements made between the chief executive and the 22
competent authority, and an adoption order is made in 23
favour of the person in the other country; or 24
(c) the person gives the chief executive a written request to 25
remove the person's name from the register. 26
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Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 145]
145 Removal after re-assessment 1
The chief executive must remove a person's name from the 2
suitable adoptive parents register if, on a re-assessment under 3
division 8, the chief executive decides the person is 4
unsuitable. 5
Note-- 6
Under section 135(4), the person is given a notice of the decision stating 7
the person's right to a review of the decision. 8
146 Other grounds for removal 9
(1) The chief executive must remove a person's name from the 10
suitable adoptive parents register if-- 11
(a) for a person who was selected for assessment from the 12
expression of interest register--the person is not eligible 13
to have his or her name remain in the expression of 14
interest register under section 76; or 15
(b) for a person selected for assessment under section 16
89--the person is not a person mentioned in section 17
89(7)(b)(ii) to (v). 18
(2) The chief executive may remove a person's name from the 19
suitable adoptive parents register if-- 20
(a) the person gives information to the chief executive for 21
this Act that is false or misleading in a material 22
particular; or 23
(b) the person does not comply with a notice under section 24
114 by the due day for the notice; or 25
(c) the person contravenes section 115. 26
(3) Before removing a person's name from the register under this 27
section, the chief executive must give the person a notice (a 28
show cause notice) stating-- 29
(a) that the chief executive proposes to remove the name; 30
and 31
(b) the reason for the proposed removal; and 32
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 147]
(c) that the person may, within a stated time of at least 28 1
days, give the chief executive a written response to the 2
proposed removal. 3
(4) The chief executive must consider any response given by the 4
person within the time stated in the show cause notice before 5
deciding whether to remove the person's name. 6
(5) If the chief executive decides not to remove the person's 7
name, the chief executive must give the person notice of the 8
decision. 9
(6) If the chief executive decides to remove the person's name, 10
the chief executive must give the person an information notice 11
for the decision. 12
(7) For subsection (1)(a), a woman does not become ineligible to 13
have her name remain in the expression of interest register 14
under section 76 on the ground of being pregnant unless she is 15
at least 14 weeks pregnant. 16
Division 10 Investigative information 17
147 Police commissioner may decide that information about a 18
person is investigative information 19
(1) The police commissioner may decide under this section that 20
information about a person (the investigated person) is 21
investigative information if-- 22
(a) there is or was evidence of acts or omissions that, at the 23
time of the acts or omissions, constituted a disqualifying 24
offence (the alleged offence) by the investigated person 25
against a child or a person who was a child at the time of 26
the offence (each of whom is a complainant); and 27
(b) the police investigated the alleged offence and the 28
investigated person was formally notified about the 29
investigation, including-- 30
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 148]
(i) by participating in an interview, or by being asked 1
to participate in an interview, about the alleged 2
offence; or 3
(ii) by otherwise being given an opportunity to answer 4
allegations about the alleged offence; and 5
(c) there was sufficient evidence available that was capable 6
of establishing each element of the alleged offence but a 7
decision was made not to charge the investigated person 8
because-- 9
(i) the complainant died before the charge was 10
brought; or 11
(ii) either or both of the following applied-- 12
(A) the complainant was unwilling to proceed; 13
(B) an adult who, at the relevant time, was the 14
complainant's parent decided that, in the 15
interests of the complainant, the matter 16
should not proceed. 17
(2) Evidence of acts or omissions includes information from a 18
third party if the complainant did not make a formal complaint 19
at or about the time of the investigation. 20
(3) Despite the Police Service Administration Act 1990, 21
section 4.10, the police commissioner may not delegate the 22
police commissioner's powers under this section to anyone 23
other than a police officer of at least the rank of 24
superintendent. 25
148 Appeal from decision that information is 26
investigative information 27
(1) This section applies if the police commissioner decides that 28
information about the investigated person is investigative 29
information and gives the information to the chief executive 30
under section 116. 31
(2) The police commissioner must give notice to the investigated 32
person that-- 33
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 6 Assessment of prospective adoptive parents
[s 149]
(a) the police commissioner has decided that information 1
about the person is investigative information; and 2
(b) investigative information has been given to the chief 3
executive. 4
(3) Within 28 days after being given the notice, the investigated 5
person may appeal to a Magistrates Court about the decision 6
that the information is investigative information. 7
(4) The chief executive and police commissioner must be given a 8
copy of the notice of appeal. 9
(5) The tribunal does not have jurisdiction to review a decision of 10
the police commissioner that information about a person is 11
investigative information or that information that is 12
investigative information may be given to the chief executive. 13
149 Court to decide matters afresh 14
(1) A Magistrates Court hearing an appeal under section 148 is to 15
decide afresh whether the information given to the chief 16
executive as investigative information about the investigated 17
person is investigative information. 18
(2) A person who is the relevant complainant under section 147 19
must not be asked or called on by the investigated person to 20
give evidence in person before the court. 21
(3) Subsection (2) does not prevent documentary evidence being 22
tendered and received in evidence by the court. 23
(4) After hearing the appeal, the court may confirm or set aside 24
the decision. 25
(5) For subsection (4), the court must have regard to the matters 26
the police commissioner was required to have regard to under 27
this Act when the police commissioner made the decision. 28
(6) The clerk of the court must give notice of the decision to the 29
investigated person and the chief executive. 30
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 7 Selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 150]
150 Consequence of successful appeal 1
(1) This section applies if, on appeal, a Magistrates Court sets 2
aside the police commissioner's decision under section 147 3
that information given to the chief executive about the 4
investigated person (the relevant information) is investigative 5
information. 6
(2) If the chief executive has decided the person is not suitable, 7
the chief executive must set aside that decision and re-assess 8
the person under this part. 9
(3) An assessment of the person under this part must be carried 10
out without regard to the relevant information. 11
Part 7 Selection of prospective 12
adoptive parents 13
Division 1 Requirement to select persons as 14
prospective adoptive parents 15
151 Application of div 1 for initial selection for local 16
adoptions 17
This division applies to a child if the chief executive is the 18
child's guardian under section 57 and all consents required for 19
the child's adoption have been given. 20
152 Application of div 1 when further selection required 21
(1) This division applies to a child (whether or not the child is an 22
intercountry adoption child) if-- 23
(a) the chief executive selects the child's prospective 24
adoptive parents under division 2; and 25
(b) an interim order is made in favour of the prospective 26
adoptive parents; and 27
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Part 7 Selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 153]
(c) the interim order is discharged. 1
(2) This division applies to an intercountry adoption child if the 2
persons who were the child's prospective adoptive parents 3
stop having custody of the child because-- 4
(a) the chief executive, as the child's guardian under a 5
delegation from the responsible Minister under the 6
Immigration (Guardianship of Children) Act 1946 7
(Cwlth), removes the child from their custody; or 8
(b) the Childrens Court makes an order under section 9
194(1)(a). 10
(3) A reference in this section to a child's prospective adoptive 11
parents includes, for a proposed adoption by a single person, 12
that person. 13
(4) In this section-- 14
intercountry adoption child means a child brought to 15
Queensland from another country to be adopted under 16
arrangements made between the chief executive and the 17
competent authority for the other country. 18
153 Chief executive must select prospective adoptive parents 19
(1) The chief executive must select a couple or single person from 20
the suitable adoptive parents register to be the child's 21
prospective adoptive parents or parent. 22
(2) The chief executive must select a couple unless satisfied that, 23
in the particular circumstances, it would best promote the 24
child's wellbeing and best interests to select a particular 25
person from the suitable adoptive parents register who is a 26
single person. 27
Note-- 28
A single person may be selected for assessment under section 89 and 29
subsequently entered in the suitable adoptive parents register. 30
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 7 Selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 154]
Division 2 How selection must be made 1
154 Application of div 2 2
This division states how, in compliance with a requirement 3
under section 153, the chief executive must decide who to 4
select. 5
155 Child's wellbeing and best interests generally 6
The chief executive must make the selection that will best 7
promote the child's wellbeing and best interests. 8
156 Child's particular needs 9
The chief executive must have regard to the needs of the child 10
to be adopted, including any needs relating to the following 11
matters-- 12
(a) the child's age and gender; 13
(b) any Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or other cultural 14
background of the child; 15
(c) any existing or possible future medical condition or 16
disability of the child; 17
(d) the child's education; 18
(e) whether the child has a sibling who has been adopted or 19
is proposed to be adopted; 20
(f) the child's social background. 21
157 Preferences of parents 22
(1) The chief executive must have regard to any preferences of the 23
child's parents including, for example, preferences about-- 24
(a) the child's religious upbringing; or 25
(b) the characteristics of the child's adoptive parents and 26
adoptive family; or 27
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Part 7 Selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 158]
(c) the degree of openness in the adoption. 1
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a preference that the chief 2
executive considers is likely to be contrary to the child's 3
wellbeing or best interests. 4
158 Characteristics of persons who may be selected 5
(1) The chief executive must have regard to any of the 6
characteristics of the persons the chief executive is 7
considering selecting that are relevant to-- 8
(a) their willingness and ability to parent a child with the 9
needs of the child to be adopted; or 10
(b) the extent to which they meet the preferences of the 11
child's parents being considered under section 157. 12
(2) In this section-- 13
characteristics, of a person, includes the matters relating to 14
the person's suitability decided by the chief executive on an 15
assessment under part 6. 16
159 Eligibility 17
(1) The chief executive must be satisfied a person to be selected 18
as a prospective adoptive parent is still eligible. 19
(2) For subsection (1), a person is still eligible if-- 20
(a) for a person selected for assessment from the expression 21
of interest register--the person is still eligible to have 22
his or her name entered or remain in the expression of 23
interest register under section 76; or 24
(b) for a person selected for assessment under section 25
89--the person still complies with section 89(7)(b)(ii) 26
to (v). 27
(3) For subsection (2)(a), a woman does not become ineligible to 28
have her name remain in the expression of interest register 29
under section 76 on the ground of being pregnant unless she is 30
at least 14 weeks pregnant. 31
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Part 7 Selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 160]
160 Placement with sibling 1
The chief executive must have regard to the consideration that 2
it would ordinarily be in a child's best interests to be placed 3
with the same family as any sibling of the child who is also to 4
be adopted or has previously been adopted. 5
161 Other children in adoptive family 6
(1) The chief executive must have regard to the considerations 7
that it would ordinarily be in a child's best interests-- 8
(a) to be the youngest child in the adoptive family, by at 9
least 2 years, at the time of the placement; and 10
(b) for no other children to join the adoptive family for at 11
least 1 year after the placement, whether by birth, 12
adoption, placement under the Child Protection Act 13
1999 or in another way. 14
(2) Subsection (1) applies to children in the adoptive family other 15
than any sibling of the child placed with the same family. 16
162 Initial period of full-time personal care by adoptive 17
parents 18
The chief executive must have regard to the consideration that 19
it would ordinarily be in a child's best interests to receive 20
full-time care, provided personally by one or both of the 21
persons with whom the child is placed, for at least 1 year after 22
the placement. 23
163 Additional provisions relating to Aboriginal or Torres 24
Strait Islander children 25
(1) This section applies if the child to be adopted is an Aboriginal 26
person or Torres Strait Islander. 27
(2) The chief executive must consult with an appropriate 28
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person about the selection 29
decision. 30
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Part 7 Selection of prospective adoptive parents
[s 164]
(3) The chief executive must give proper consideration to 1
selecting, in order of priority-- 2
(a) a member of the child's community or language group; 3
or 4
(b) another Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander who 5
is compatible with the child's community or language 6
group; or 7
(c) another Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander. 8
(4) This section does not limit the application of the other 9
provisions of this division to the selection of prospective 10
adoptive parents for the child. 11
Division 3 Facilitating matters between 12
parents and selected persons 13
164 Facilitating agreement or adoption plan 14
(1) This section applies after the chief executive has selected the 15
child's prospective adoptive parents under division 2. 16
(2) The chief executive must act as intermediary between the 17
child's parents and the prospective adoptive parents to-- 18
(a) facilitate an agreement between them about the degree 19
of openness there will be in the adoption; and 20
(b) facilitate preparation of an adoption plan, if a plan is 21
required under this Act or is proposed by any of them. 22
Page 100
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 8 Adoption plans
[s 165]
Part 8 Adoption plans 1
Division 1 General 2
165 What is an adoption plan 3
(1) An adoption plan is a written plan, agreed to by the parties to 4
the plan, about anything relating to the adopted child's 5
wellbeing or interests. 6
(2) An adoption plan may, for example, address any of the 7
following matters-- 8
(a) the degree of openness there will be in the adoption, 9
including-- 10
(i) when a party will communicate with another party; 11
and 12
(ii) how a party will communicate with another party, 13
including whether the communication will be 14
through the mailbox service or in another way that 15
does not identify the first party; and 16
(iii) the matters about which information will be 17
exchanged; 18
Examples of matters about which information may be 19
exchanged-- 20
· the child's development 21
· important events in the child's life 22
· a medical condition of the child 23
· the medical history of the child's biological family 24
(b) the adoptive parents' commitment to telling the child 25
about the adoption and helping the child understand the 26
circumstances of the adoption; 27
(c) if the child is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander 28
child, how the adoptive parents will-- 29
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Adoption Bill 2009
Part 8 Adoption plans
[s 166]
(i) help the child to maintain contact with the child's 1
community or language group; and 2
(ii) help the child to develop and maintain a 3
connection with the child's Aboriginal tradition or 4
Island custom; and 5
(iii) preserve and enhance the child's sense of 6
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander identity; 7
(d) if the child has a particular ethnic or other cultural 8
background, how the adoptive parents will-- 9
(i) help the child to maintain contact with the child's 10
community or language group; and 11
(ii) help the child to develop and maintain a 12
connection with the child's ethnicity or culture; 13
and 14
(iii) preserve and enhance the child's sense of ethnic or 15
cultural identity. 16
166 Parties 17
(1) The parties to an adoption plan are the prospective adoptive 18
parents or adoptive parents and any birth parent who wishes to 19
be a party. 20
(2) The parties to an adoption plan may also include-- 21
(a) the child, if the chief executive considers it would be 22
appropriate having regard to all the circumstances 23
including the child's age and maturity; or 24
(b) a representative for the child; or 25
(c) for an intercountry adoption--the competent authority 26
for the relevant country, the chief executive or another 27
appropriate entity. 28
(3) The chief executive (child safety) must be a party to an 29
adoption plan required under section 171. 30
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Part 8 Adoption plans
[s 167]
(4) If no birth parent wishes to be a party to an adoption plan 1
required under section 172, the chief executive must be a party 2
to the plan. 3
167 Purpose 4
The purpose of an adoption plan is to contribute to the success 5
of the adoption by ensuring parties to the adoption-- 6
(a) properly consider-- 7
(i) the matters that may affect the child's wellbeing 8
and interests; and 9
(ii) the consequences of entering into the particular 10
arrangements for the adoption (for example, the 11
degree of openness); and 12
(b) commit to practical ways to address the matters 13
mentioned in paragraph (a). 14
168 Nature of plan and limitations on operation 15
(1) An adoption plan-- 16
(a) is not enforceable; and 17
(b) does not limit the primary responsibility of the adoptive 18
parents for the child's upbringing; and 19
(c) does not entitle a member of the child's birth family or 20
anyone else to interfere in the child's upbringing or the 21
relationship between the child and adoptive parents. 22
(2) An adoption plan may not include anything that purports to 23
prevent, restrict or otherwise control the movement of a party. 24
(3) An adoption plan has no effect once the child becomes an 25
adult. 26
169 Chief executive to help 27
(1) On request by the parties to a proposed adoption or adoption, 28
the chief executive must help them to prepare an adoption 29
Page 103
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 8 Adoption plans
[s 170]
plan, for example, by making an officer of the department 1
available to act as an intermediary. 2
(2) If an adoption plan is required under section 172, the chief 3
executive must arrange for an appropriate Aboriginal or 4
Torres Strait Islander person to be available to help the parties 5
to prepare the plan. 6
Division 2 When is plan required 7
170 In-person contact between child and birth family 8
(1) This section applies if a birth parent and a prospective 9
adoptive parent have advised the chief executive that they 10
wish there to be in-person contact, after the adoption, between 11
the child and the child's birth family. 12
(2) An adoption plan must be agreed to, between the birth parent 13
and prospective adoptive parents, that addresses how the 14
contact will happen and the nature and frequency of the 15
contact. 16
171 Child protection order 17
(1) This section applies if a child protection order is, or has been, 18
in force for the child. 19
(2) An adoption plan must be agreed to that addresses the matters 20
stated in section 165(2)(a). 21
172 Particular Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander placements 22
(1) This section applies if the child is an Aboriginal or Torres 23
Strait Islander child and the prospective adoptive parents are 24
not from the child's community or language group. 25
(2) An adoption plan must be agreed to that addresses the matters 26
stated in section 165(2)(c). 27
Page 104
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 173]
173 Adoption plans otherwise not compulsory 1
Unless required under sections 170 to 172, an adoption plan 2
need not be prepared. 3
Part 9 Adoption orders 4
Division 1 General matters 5
174 Court may make adoption orders 6
On an application under this part, the Childrens Court may 7
make an adoption order for the adoption of a child by the 8
person or persons named in the application. 9
175 Consents and pre-consent counselling and information 10
(1) This section does not apply to a parent if the need for the 11
parent's consent to the child's adoption has been dispensed 12
with under section 39. 13
(2) The court must not make an adoption order unless it is 14
satisfied each parent has given consent to the adoption, under 15
part 2, at least 30 days before the making of the order. 16
(3) A court must not make an adoption order unless the following 17
documents for each parent are produced to the court-- 18
(a) a document, sworn by an officer of the department, 19
stating that the officer gave a document containing the 20
prescribed information to the parent under section 23 on 21
a stated day; 22
(b) a document, sworn by a counsellor, stating that the 23
counsellor counselled the parent under section 24 on a 24
stated day or days; 25
Page 105
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 176]
(c) if the parent is not an adult or section 29(3)(b) 1
applies--a document, sworn by a qualified person, 2
stating that-- 3
(i) the qualified person assessed the parent on a stated 4
day or days; and 5
(ii) in the qualified person's opinion, the parent had 6
capacity to give the consent; 7
(d) if section 29(2) applies to the parent--a declaration by 8
the Guardianship and Administration Tribunal that the 9
parent has capacity to give the consent; 10
(e) if the chief executive made an application mentioned in 11
section 29(3)(a)--a declaration made on the application 12
that the parent has capacity to give the consent. 13
(4) Subsections (2) and (3) do not apply to the making of a final 14
adoption order if an interim order is in force for the child. 15
(5) Also, subsection (3) does not apply to a parent for whom a 16
complying interstate consent under section 42 is in force. 17
(6) This section does not apply to an intercountry adoption. 18
176 Particular documents not to be served on prospective 19
adoptive parents 20
(1) In a proceeding under this part-- 21
(a) the chief executive must not serve, on a prospective 22
adoptive parent, a copy of a document mentioned in 23
section 175(3); and 24
(b) a party must not serve, on a prospective adoptive parent, 25
a copy of a document relating to the giving of consent 26
by a parent of the child. 27
(2) Subsection (1) applies despite a rule of court or other law. 28
Page 106
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 177]
177 Proceedings about whether parents have consented 1
(1) The chief executive may apply to the Childrens Court for a 2
declaration that a parent (the relevant parent) of a child has 3
given consent under part 2 to the child's adoption. 4
(2) The application may be made before or at the same time as an 5
application is made for an adoption order for the child. 6
(3) If the court is hearing an application for an interim adoption 7
order under division 2, or for a final adoption order under 8
section 188, and the court considers a proceeding about the 9
issue of consent should first be heard and decided under this 10
section, the court may direct the chief executive to make an 11
application under this section. 12
(4) The chief executive must serve a copy of the application on 13
the relevant parent. 14
(5) However, the court may dispense with the requirement to 15
serve a copy of the application on the relevant parent if the 16
court is satisfied the chief executive can not locate the relevant 17
parent after making all reasonable enquiries. 18
(6) A copy of the application served on the relevant parent must 19
state that the application may be heard and decided even 20
though the relevant parent does not appear in court. 21
(7) The prospective adoptive parents are not respondents in the 22
proceeding and must not be served with a copy of the 23
application. 24
(8) The court must hear and decide the application, in the absence 25
of the prospective adoptive parents, separately to a proceeding 26
in which the court hears and decides an application for an 27
adoption order for the child. 28
(9) The court may hear and decide the application in the absence 29
of the relevant parent only if-- 30
(a) the relevant parent has been given reasonable notice of 31
the hearing and failed to attend or continue to attend the 32
hearing; or 33
Page 107
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 178]
(b) the court dispenses with the requirement to serve a copy 1
of the application on the relevant parent under 2
subsection (5). 3
(10) Subsections (8) and (9) do not limit the court's jurisdiction to 4
exclude a person from a proceeding. 5
178 Child subject to child protection order 6
(1) This section applies if the child is in the custody or 7
guardianship of the chief executive (child safety) or someone 8
else under the Child Protection Act 1999. 9
(2) The court must not make an adoption order unless a 10
document, signed by the chief executive (child safety), is 11
produced to the court stating that the chief executive (child 12
safety) considers the adoption is an appropriate way of 13
meeting the child's need for long-term stable care. 14
179 Child able to form and express views 15
(1) This section applies in relation to a child who is able to form 16
and express views about his or her adoption. 17
(2) The court must consider the child's views before deciding 18
whether to make an adoption order for the child. 19
Note-- 20
Under sections 235 and 236, someone may be appointed to give separate 21
legal representation or support to the child. 22
(3) For an adoption other than an intercountry adoption, the court 23
may make an adoption order only if the following documents 24
have been produced to the court-- 25
(a) a document, sworn by an officer of the department, 26
stating that the officer gave the information under 27
section 44 to the child on a stated day; 28
(b) a document, sworn by a counsellor under section 45, 29
stating that the counsellor counselled the child under 30
that section on a stated day or days. 31
Page 108
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 180]
(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to the making of a final 1
adoption order if an interim order is already in force for the 2
child. 3
180 References to prospective adoptive parents 4
A reference in this part to a child's prospective adoptive 5
parents includes, for a proposed adoption by a single person, 6
that person. 7
Division 2 Local adoptions 8
181 Application of div 2 9
This division applies if the chief executive is a child's 10
guardian under section 57 and has selected the child's 11
prospective adoptive parents under part 7. 12
182 Application for interim order 13
(1) The chief executive may apply to the Childrens Court for an 14
interim order for the adoption of the child by the prospective 15
adoptive parents. 16
(2) The chief executive must serve a copy of the application on 17
the prospective adoptive parents. 18
(3) The chief executive must give notice of the application to each 19
person who has given consent to the child's adoption under 20
part 2. 21
(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to a person whom the chief 22
executive can not locate after making all reasonable enquiries. 23
(5) The prospective adoptive parents are respondents in the 24
proceeding. 25
(6) A person who has given consent to the child's adoption but 26
wishes to contest the application may apply to the court to be 27
included as a respondent in the proceeding. 28
Page 109
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 183]
183 Requirements for making interim order 1
(1) The court may make an interim order only if it is satisfied of 2
the following matters-- 3
(a) the child is present in Queensland; 4
(b) the proposed order will promote the child's wellbeing 5
and best interests; 6
(c) the chief executive selected the prospective adoptive 7
parents in compliance with part 7, division 2; 8
(d) each of the prospective adoptive parents-- 9
(i) is an adult; and 10
(ii) is an Australian citizen or has a spouse who is an 11
Australian citizen; and 12
(iii) is resident or domiciled in Queensland; and 13
(iv) is suitable, having regard to the matters stated in 14
part 6, division 5; 15
(e) for a female prospective adoptive parent, she is not 16
pregnant; 17
(f) any adoption plan required under part 8, division 2-- 18
(i) has been agreed; or 19
(ii) has been substantially developed. 20
(2) This section does not apply if the prospective adoptive parents 21
are habitually resident in a convention country. 22
Note-- 23
For the matters applying if the prospective adoptive parents are 24
habitually resident in a convention country, see section 213. 25
184 Period of operation of interim order 26
An interim order remains in force until the Childrens Court 27
discharges it or makes a final adoption order for the child. 28
Page 110
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 185]
185 Effect of interim order 1
(1) While an interim order is in force for the adoption of a child 2
by a person, the person has custody of the child. 3
(2) An interim order does not affect the chief executive's 4
guardianship of the child. 5
(3) While an interim order is in force, the chief executive must 6
supervise the child's wellbeing and interests. 7
186 Discharge of interim order 8
(1) The chief executive may apply to the Childrens Court to 9
discharge an interim order. 10
(2) The chief executive must serve a copy of the application on 11
the prospective adoptive parents. 12
(3) The court may discharge an interim order for a child-- 13
(a) on an application under subsection (1); or 14
(b) on an application under section 187 for a final adoption 15
order for the child. 16
(4) The court may discharge the interim order if satisfied it would 17
be contrary to the child's wellbeing or best interests to be 18
adopted by the prospective adoptive parents, having regard to 19
the relevant matters. 20
(5) Also, on an application under section 187 for a final adoption 21
order, the court may discharge the interim order if the court-- 22
(a) is not satisfied of the relevant matters; and 23
(b) considers the relevant matters are not likely to be 24
satisfied within an appropriate time. 25
(6) The discharge of an interim order does not affect the chief 26
executive's guardianship of the child. 27
(7) In this section-- 28
relevant matters means the matters under section 189 of 29
which the court must be satisfied before it may make a final 30
adoption order. 31
Page 111
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 187]
187 Application for final adoption order if interim order is in 1
force 2
(1) This section applies if an interim order is in force and the 3
child has been in the custody of the prospective adoptive 4
parents under the order for at least 1 year. 5
(2) The chief executive may apply to the Childrens Court for a 6
final adoption order for the adoption of the child by the 7
prospective adoptive parents. 8
(3) The chief executive must serve a copy of the application on 9
the prospective adoptive parents. 10
(4) The prospective adoptive parents may apply to the court for a 11
final adoption order if-- 12
(a) the child has been in their custody under the interim 13
order for at least 1 year and 30 days; and 14
(b) the chief executive has neither applied for a final 15
adoption order nor applied to discharge the interim 16
order. 17
(5) If the prospective adoptive parents apply for a final adoption 18
order, they must serve a copy of the application on the chief 19
executive. 20
(6) A person served with a copy of the application under 21
subsection (3) or (5) is a respondent in the proceeding. 22
188 Application for final adoption order in favour of approved 23
carers 24
(1) This section applies if the child's prospective adoptive parents 25
are, and have been for at least 1 year, approved carers of the 26
child. 27
(2) The chief executive may apply to the Childrens Court for a 28
final adoption order for the adoption of the child by the 29
prospective adoptive parents. 30
(3) The chief executive must serve a copy of the application on 31
the prospective adoptive parents. 32
Page 112
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 189]
(4) The chief executive must give notice of the application to each 1
person who has given consent to the child's adoption under 2
part 2. 3
(5) Subsection (4) does not apply to a person whom the chief 4
executive can not locate after making all reasonable enquiries. 5
(6) The prospective adoptive parents are respondents in the 6
proceeding. 7
(7) If no interim order is in force, a person who has given consent 8
to the child's adoption but wishes to contest the application 9
may apply to the court to be included as a respondent in the 10
proceeding. 11
189 Requirements for making final adoption order 12
(1) The court may make a final adoption order for the child only 13
if it is satisfied of the following matters-- 14
(a) the child is present in Queensland; 15
(b) the proposed order will promote the child's wellbeing 16
and best interests; 17
(c) each of the prospective adoptive parents-- 18
(i) is an adult; and 19
(ii) is an Australian citizen or has a spouse who is an 20
Australian citizen; and 21
(iii) is resident or domiciled in Queensland; and 22
(iv) is suitable, having regard to the matters stated in 23
part 6, division 5; 24
(d) any adoption plan required under part 8, division 2 has 25
been agreed; 26
(e) while the child has been in their custody, the prospective 27
adoptive parents have demonstrated-- 28
(i) their willingness and ability to meet the child's 29
needs; and 30
Page 113
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 190]
(ii) their commitment to any adoption plan mentioned 1
in paragraph (d); and 2
(iii) if the child has a particular ethnic or other cultural 3
background, their willingness and ability to-- 4
(A) help the child to maintain contact with the 5
child's community or language group; and 6
(B) help the child to develop and maintain a 7
connection with the child's ethnicity or 8
culture; and 9
(C) preserve and enhance the child's sense of 10
ethnic or cultural identity. 11
(2) Also, if an interim order is not in force for the child, the court 12
must be satisfied that the chief executive selected the 13
prospective adoptive parents in compliance with part 7, 14
division 2. 15
(3) This section does not apply if the prospective adoptive parent 16
is a person habitually resident in a convention country. 17
Note-- 18
For the matters applying if the prospective adoptive parents are 19
habitually resident in a convention country, see section 213. 20
190 Notice of order 21
(1) As soon as practicable after an adoption order is made, the 22
chief executive must-- 23
(a) give to the parties to the proceeding-- 24
(i) a copy of the order; and 25
(ii) a notice explaining its terms and effect; and 26
(b) give to each person who consented to the adoption under 27
part 2 a notice stating that the order has been made and 28
explaining its terms and effect. 29
(2) Subsection (1)(b) does not apply to a person whom the chief 30
executive can not locate after making all reasonable enquiries. 31
Page 114
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 191]
Division 3 Intercountry adoptions 1
191 Application of div 3 2
This division applies if-- 3
(a) a child is brought to Queensland from another country 4
to be adopted under arrangements made between the 5
chief executive and the competent authority for the other 6
country; and 7
(b) the child's prospective adoptive parents, whose names 8
were on the suitable adoptive parents register, were 9
selected-- 10
(i) by the competent authority, under the 11
arrangements; or 12
(ii) by the chief executive, in the circumstances 13
mentioned in section 152(2). 14
192 Custody and guardianship if no guardian under 15
Commonwealth Act 16
(1) This section applies if there is no guardian of the child under 17
the Immigration (Guardianship of Children) Act 1946 18
(Cwlth). 19
(2) From the child's arrival in Queensland-- 20
(a) the chief executive has guardianship of the child; and 21
(b) the prospective adoptive parents have custody of the 22
child, subject to an order under section 194. 23
193 Custody and guardianship if interim order in force 24
(1) This section applies if an interim order is made in favour of 25
the prospective adoptive parents under this division. 26
(2) While the interim order is in force, the prospective adoptive 27
parents have custody of the child. 28
Page 115
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 194]
(3) The interim order does not affect the chief executive's 1
guardianship of the child. 2
194 Order ending custody or discharging interim order 3
(1) The chief executive may apply to the Childrens Court for 4
either of the following orders-- 5
(a) if the child is in the custody of the prospective adoptive 6
parents under section 192--an order ending their 7
custody of the child; or 8
(b) if an interim order in favour of the prospective adoptive 9
parents is in force under this division--an order 10
discharging the interim order. 11
(2) The chief executive must serve a copy of the application on 12
the prospective adoptive parents. 13
(3) The court may make the relevant order if satisfied it would be 14
contrary to the child's wellbeing or best interests to be 15
adopted by the prospective adoptive parents, having regard to 16
the relevant matters. 17
Note-- 18
The court may also make an order discharging the interim order under 19
section 201. 20
(4) An order under this section does not affect the chief 21
executive's guardianship of the child. 22
(5) In this section-- 23
relevant matters means the matters under section 200 of 24
which the court must be satisfied before it may make a final 25
adoption order. 26
195 Application for interim order 27
(1) This section applies if-- 28
(a) the Childrens Court makes an order under section 29
194(1); and 30
Page 116
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 196]
(b) the chief executive selects new prospective adoptive 1
parents from the suitable adoptive parents register. 2
Note-- 3
See section 152(2). 4
(2) The chief executive may apply to the Childrens Court for an 5
interim order for the adoption of the child by the prospective 6
adoptive parents. 7
(3) The chief executive must serve a copy of the application on 8
the prospective adoptive parents and the competent authority. 9
(4) The prospective adoptive parents are respondents in the 10
proceeding. 11
196 Requirements for making interim order 12
The court may make an interim order only if it is satisfied of 13
the following matters-- 14
(a) the child is present in Queensland; 15
(b) the child is not prevented from residing permanently in 16
Australia-- 17
(i) under a law of the Commonwealth or a State; or 18
(ii) by an order of a court of the Commonwealth or a 19
State; 20
(c) the competent authority has advised the chief executive 21
that arrangements for the adoption have been made-- 22
(i) under the law of the country; and 23
(ii) if the country is a convention country, under the 24
Hague convention; 25
(d) the competent authority for the country has agreed to the 26
adoption; 27
(e) the proposed adoption order will promote the child's 28
wellbeing and best interests; 29
Page 117
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 197]
(f) if the prospective adoptive parents were selected by the 1
chief executive, they were selected in compliance with 2
part 7, division 2; 3
(g) each of the prospective adoptive parents-- 4
(i) is an adult; and 5
(ii) is an Australian citizen or has a spouse who is an 6
Australian citizen; and 7
(iii) is resident or domiciled in Queensland; and 8
(iv) is suitable, having regard to the matters stated in 9
part 6, division 5; 10
(h) for a female prospective adoptive parent, she is not 11
pregnant. 12
197 Period of operation of interim order 13
An interim order remains in force until the Childrens Court 14
discharges it or makes a final adoption order for the child. 15
198 Chief executive to supervise child's wellbeing and 16
interests 17
(1) This section applies while the child is in the custody of the 18
prospective adoptive parents-- 19
(a) under section 192; or 20
(b) because an interim order in favour of the prospective 21
adoptive parents is in force under this division; or 22
(c) because the chief executive, as the child's guardian 23
under a delegation from the responsible Minister under 24
the Immigration (Guardianship of Children) Act 1946 25
(Cwlth), placed the child in their custody. 26
(2) The chief executive must supervise the child's wellbeing and 27
interests. 28
Page 118
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 199]
199 Application for final adoption order 1
(1) This section applies if the child has been in the custody of the 2
prospective adoptive parents, for at least 1 year, as mentioned 3
in section 198(1). 4
(2) The chief executive may apply to the Childrens Court for a 5
final adoption order for the adoption of the child by the 6
prospective adoptive parents. 7
(3) The chief executive must serve a copy of the application on 8
the prospective adoptive parents. 9
(4) The prospective adoptive parents may apply to the court for a 10
final adoption order if-- 11
(a) the child has been in their custody, as mentioned in 12
section 198(1), for at least 1 year and 30 days; and 13
(b) the chief executive has neither applied for a final 14
adoption order nor applied for an order under section 15
194. 16
(5) If the prospective adoptive parents apply for a final adoption 17
order, they must serve a copy of the application on the chief 18
executive. 19
(6) A person served with a copy of the application under 20
subsection (3) or (5) is a respondent in the proceeding. 21
200 Requirements for making final adoption order 22
The court may make a final adoption order only if it is 23
satisfied of the following matters-- 24
(a) the child is present in Queensland; 25
(b) the child is not prevented from residing permanently in 26
Australia-- 27
(i) under a law of the Commonwealth or a State; or 28
(ii) by an order of a court of the Commonwealth or a 29
State; 30
(c) the competent authority has advised the chief executive 31
that arrangements for the adoption have been made-- 32
Page 119
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 201]
(i) under the law of the country; and 1
(ii) if the country is a convention country, under the 2
Hague convention; 3
(d) the competent authority for the country has agreed to the 4
adoption; 5
(e) the proposed adoption order will promote the child's 6
wellbeing and best interests; 7
(f) each of the prospective adoptive parents-- 8
(i) is an adult; and 9
(ii) is an Australian citizen or has a spouse who is an 10
Australian citizen; and 11
(iii) is resident or domiciled in Queensland; and 12
(iv) is suitable, having regard to the matters stated in 13
part 6, division 5; 14
(g) while the child has been in their custody, the prospective 15
adoptive parents have demonstrated-- 16
(i) their willingness and ability to meet the child's 17
needs; and 18
(ii) if the child has a particular ethnic or other cultural 19
background, their willingness and ability to-- 20
(A) help the child to maintain contact with the 21
child's community or language group; and 22
(B) help the child to develop and maintain a 23
connection with the child's ethnicity or 24
culture; and 25
(C) preserve and enhance the child's sense of 26
ethnic or cultural identity. 27
201 Discharge of interim order on application for final order 28
(1) This section applies if, on an application for a final adoption 29
order, the court is not satisfied of the relevant matters and 30
Page 120
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 202]
considers the relevant matters are not likely to be satisfied 1
within an appropriate time. 2
(2) The court may make an order discharging the interim order in 3
favour of the prospective adoptive parents. 4
(3) In this section-- 5
relevant matters means the matters under section 200 of 6
which the court must be satisfied before it may make a final 7
adoption order. 8
202 Notice of order 9
As soon as practicable after an adoption order is made, the 10
chief executive must-- 11
(a) give to the parties to the proceeding-- 12
(i) a copy of the order; and 13
(ii) a notice explaining the terms and effect of the 14
order; and 15
(b) give a copy of the order to the competent authority. 16
Division 4 Adoptions by step-parent 17
203 Meaning of suitability report 18
In this division-- 19
suitability report means a report prepared for the Childrens 20
Court by the chief executive under section 138(2). 21
204 Application by step-parent 22
(1) This section applies if a person (the step-parent)-- 23
(a) has made an application under part 5, division 1; and 24
(b) has been assessed as suitable under part 6; and 25
Page 121
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 205]
(c) has received, from the chief executive, a suitability 1
report for the proposed adoption. 2
(2) The step-parent may apply to the Childrens Court for a final 3
adoption order for the adoption of the child by the step-parent. 4
(3) The application must be made jointly with the step-parent's 5
spouse. 6
205 Notice of application 7
(1) After making an application under section 204, the applicant 8
must-- 9
(a) serve a copy of the application on the chief executive; 10
and 11
(b) give notice of the application to each parent of the child 12
who has given consent to the proposed adoption under 13
part 2. 14
(2) Subsection (1)(b) does not apply to a parent whom the 15
applicant can not locate after making all reasonable enquiries. 16
206 Respondents 17
(1) The chief executive is a respondent in the proceeding. 18
(2) A person who has given consent to a proposed adoption under 19
part 2 but wishes to contest the application may apply to the 20
court to be included as a respondent in the proceeding. 21
207 Chief executive must file report 22
After being served with a copy of the application, the chief 23
executive must file the relevant suitability report in the court. 24
208 Requirements for making final adoption order 25
The court may make a final adoption order only if it is 26
satisfied of the following matters-- 27
(a) the child is present in Queensland; 28
Page 122
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 209]
(b) the step-parent-- 1
(i) is an adult; and 2
(ii) is resident or domiciled in Queensland; 3
(c) the step-parent or his or her spouse is an Australian 4
citizen; and 5
(d) the step-parent is suitable, having regard to the matters 6
stated in part 6, division 5; 7
(e) an order for the child's adoption by the step-parent 8
would better promote the child's wellbeing and best 9
interests than an order under the Family Law Act 1975 10
(Cwlth), any other court order or no court order; 11
(f) there are exceptional circumstances that warrant the 12
making of the order. 13
209 Notice of order 14
As soon as practicable after a final adoption order is made, the 15
chief executive must-- 16
(a) give to the parties to the proceeding-- 17
(i) a copy of the order; and 18
(ii) a notice explaining the terms and effect of the 19
order; and 20
(b) give a notice explaining the terms and effect of the order 21
to each person who has given consent to the adoption 22
under part 2. 23
Division 5 Adoptions by residents of a 24
convention country 25
210 Application of div 5 26
This division applies to an adoption order under division 2 if 27
the prospective adoptive parents are habitually resident in a 28
convention country. 29
Page 123
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 9 Adoption orders
[s 211]
211 Selection of prospective adoptive parents 1
Despite section 181, an adoption order may be made under 2
division 2 even if the prospective adoptive parents are not 3
selected under part 7. 4
212 Application for final adoption order 5
Despite section 187(1), an application for a final adoption 6
order may be made under that section whether or not an 7
interim order is in force and whether or not the child has been 8
in the custody of the prospective adoptive parents for at least 1 9
year. 10
213 Requirements for making adoption order 11
The court may make an adoption order only if it is satisfied of 12
the following matters-- 13
(a) the child is present in Queensland; 14
(b) the child is not prevented from leaving Australia-- 15
(i) under a law of the Commonwealth or a State; or 16
(ii) by an order of a court of the Commonwealth or a 17
State; 18
(c) arrangements for the adoption have been made under the 19
Hague convention and under the law of the convention 20
country; 21
(d) the competent authority for the country has agreed to the 22
adoption; 23
(e) the child is not prevented by a law of the convention 24
country from residing permanently in that country; 25
(f) each of the prospective adoptive parents is an adult; 26
(g) the proposed order will promote the child's wellbeing 27
and best interests. 28
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[s 214]
Division 6 Effect of final adoption order 1
214 Effect on relationships 2
(1) This section applies on the making of a final adoption order 3
for the adoption of a child (the adopted child) by a person (the 4
adoptive parent). 5
(2) The adopted child becomes a child of the adoptive parent and 6
the adoptive parent becomes a parent of the adopted child. 7
(3) The adopted child stops being a child of a former parent and a 8
former parent stops being a parent of the adopted child. 9
(4) Other relationships are determined in accordance with 10
subsections (2) and (3). 11
(5) A former guardian stops being a guardian of the adopted 12
child. 13
(6) A former adoption order stops having effect. 14
(7) Despite subsections (3) to (6), if the final adoption order is for 15
the adopted child's adoption by the spouse of a parent of the 16
adopted child, the relationship between the adopted child and 17
that parent is not affected. 18
(8) Also despite subsections (3) to (6), for the purpose of a law 19
relating to a sexual offence for which relationships are 20
relevant, a former relationship continues, despite the final 21
adoption order, in addition to other relationships created by 22
the order. 23
(9) This section applies subject to another law that expressly 24
distinguishes between adopted children and other children. 25
(10) In this section-- 26
former adoption order means an order for the adoption of the 27
adopted child, made under this Act or another law of 28
Queensland or another jurisdiction, in force immediately 29
before the making of the final adoption order. 30
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[s 215]
former guardian means a person who was a guardian of the 1
adopted child immediately before the making of the final 2
adoption order. 3
former parent means a person who was a parent of the 4
adopted child immediately before the making of the final 5
adoption order. 6
former relationship means a relationship between the adopted 7
child and another person that existed immediately before the 8
making of the final adoption order. 9
Note-- 10
This section deals with the legal effect of a final adoption order on an 11
adopted child's relationship to other persons. See section 6(2)(j) for a 12
guiding principle about the continuance of emotional connections and 13
interactions with birth family members. 14
215 Child's name 15
(1) A final adoption order for a child may include-- 16
(a) an order that the child keep the child's existing surname 17
or have the same surname as an adoptive parent; and 18
(b) an order that the child-- 19
(i) keep an existing given name; or 20
(ii) have another given name agreed by the child's 21
adoptive parents as well as an existing given name; 22
or 23
(iii) have another given name agreed by the child's 24
adoptive parents instead of an existing given name. 25
(2) The court must make the order that will best promote the 26
child's wellbeing and best interests. 27
(3) The court must have regard to the child's right to preserve his 28
or her identity. 29
(4) The court must consider whether the child is generally known 30
by, or identifies with, any of the child's existing names. 31
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[s 216]
(5) The court must not make an order under subsection (1)(b)(iii) 1
unless satisfied it would harm the child's wellbeing or best 2
interests to keep the existing given name. 3
(6) This section does not prevent a change of the child's name 4
under another law after the final adoption order is made. 5
216 Effect of adoption orders in relation to property 6
(1) Section 214 has effect in relation to-- 7
(a) dispositions of property whether by will or otherwise; 8
and 9
(b) devolutions of property in respect of which a person dies 10
intestate. 11
(2) However, section 214 does not affect the operation of a will or 12
other instrument that distinguishes between adopted children 13
and children other than adopted children. 14
(3) This section applies subject to section 346. 15
217 Bequest by will to an unascertained adopted person 16
(1) This section applies if-- 17
(a) under a will, the testator makes a disposition of property 18
to a person who is described-- 19
(i) as being a child of the testator or of another person; 20
and 21
(ii) as having been adopted by another person; and 22
(b) the personal representative of the testator is unable to 23
find out the name and address of the adopted person. 24
(2) The personal representative must give the public trustee a 25
copy of the will and a notice stating that the personal 26
representative is unable to find out the name and address of 27
the adopted person. 28
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[s 217]
(3) On receipt of the copy of the will, the public trustee must give 1
the chief executive a notice asking the chief executive to take 2
steps to find out the name and address of the adopted person. 3
(4) On receipt of the request, the chief executive must take steps 4
to find out the name and address of the adopted person and, if 5
the adopted person has died, the date of the death by-- 6
(a) checking the chief executive's records; and 7
(b) asking the registrar. 8
(5) If the chief executive finds out the name, address or date of 9
death, the chief executive must give the information to the 10
public trustee. 11
(6) If the chief executive is unable to find out the name, address or 12
date of death, the chief executive must advise the public 13
trustee. 14
(7) On receiving information or advice from the chief executive 15
under subsection (5) or (6), the public trustee must give a 16
notice to the personal representative stating-- 17
(a) whether the name or address has been ascertained; or 18
(b) if it has been ascertained that the adopted person has 19
died, the date of death. 20
(8) The public trustee is a trustee for the adopted person on the 21
trusts stated in, or arising under, the will. 22
(9) If the personal representative transfers property to the public 23
trustee as trustee for the adopted person, the personal 24
representative is taken to have transferred the property to the 25
adopted person. 26
(10) Subsections (8) and (9) do not apply if the adopted person 27
died before the testator or, for another reason, is not entitled to 28
an interest under the will. 29
(11) If the public trustee gives the personal representative a notice 30
that the adopted person has disclaimed property to which the 31
adopted person was entitled under the will, the notice is, for 32
the purpose of administering the estate, sufficient evidence 33
that the adopted person has disclaimed the property. 34
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[s 218]
(12) This section applies only to a will made after the 1
commencement of the repealed Act, section 29A. 2
218 Transfer or distribution of property by trustee or personal 3
representative 4
(1) Subject to this section, a trustee may transfer or distribute 5
property to persons who appear entitled to it without finding 6
out whether or not an adoption has happened because of 7
which a person is or is not entitled to an interest in the 8
property. 9
(2) A trustee who transfers or distributes property under 10
subsection (1) is not liable to a person claiming directly or 11
indirectly because of an adoption unless the trustee has notice 12
of the claim before the transfer or distribution. 13
(3) This section does not affect a person's right to follow property 14
into the hands of a person, other than a purchaser for value, 15
who has received it. 16
(4) In this section-- 17
notice means written notice or other notice. 18
trustee includes a personal representative. 19
Division 7 Discharge of final adoption order 20
219 Grounds for discharge 21
(1) A final adoption order may be discharged on any of the 22
following grounds-- 23
(a) the order was made or something was done for the 24
purpose of making the order-- 25
(i) because of a false or misleading document or 26
representation; or 27
(ii) because a person acted fraudulently or used undue 28
influence on another person; or 29
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[s 220]
(iii) in another improper way; 1
(b) a consent required for the adoption was not given freely 2
and voluntarily by a person with capacity to give the 3
consent; 4
(c) there are other exceptional circumstances that warrant 5
the discharge. 6
(2) For this section, a person used undue influence on another 7
person if the first person-- 8
(a) used or threatened to use force or restraint against the 9
other person; or 10
(b) caused or threatened to cause injury to the other person; 11
or 12
(c) caused or threatened to cause any other detriment to the 13
other person. 14
220 Who may apply 15
Any of the following persons may apply for a final adoption 16
order to be discharged-- 17
(a) the adopted person, if he or she is an adult; 18
(b) a birth parent of the adopted person; 19
(c) an adoptive parent of the adopted person; 20
(d) the chief executive. 21
221 How to apply 22
(1) An application for the discharge of a final adoption order must 23
be made to the Supreme Court. 24
(2) The application must state the ground on which it is made. 25
(3) As soon as practicable after filing the application in the court, 26
the applicant must serve a copy of it on each party to the 27
adoption and, if the applicant is not the chief executive, on the 28
chief executive. 29
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[s 222]
(4) A served copy must state where and when the application is to 1
be heard. 2
(5) A copy served on a person who is a party to the adoption, 3
other than the adopted person, must also state that the 4
application may be heard and decided even though the person 5
does not appear in court. 6
(6) The court may dispense with the requirement to serve a copy 7
of the application on a person who is a party to the adoption, 8
other than the adopted person, if the court is satisfied the 9
applicant-- 10
(a) can not establish the person's identity after making all 11
reasonable enquiries; or 12
(b) can not locate the person after making all reasonable 13
enquiries. 14
222 Respondent 15
(1) A person, other than the chief executive, served with a copy of 16
the application is a respondent in the proceeding. 17
(2) If the chief executive is not the applicant, the chief executive 18
may apply to the court to be included as a respondent in the 19
proceeding. 20
223 Hearing not to be in public 21
(1) The hearing for the proceeding is not open to the public. 22
(2) However, the court may permit a person to be present during 23
the hearing if the court is satisfied it is in the interests of 24
justice. 25
224 Hearing of application in absence of party 26
(1) The court may not hear or decide the application unless the 27
adopted person or a lawyer representing the adopted person 28
appears in the proceeding. 29
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[s 225]
(2) Otherwise, the court may hear and decide the application in 1
the absence of a person who is a party to the adoption only 2
if-- 3
(a) the person has been given reasonable notice of the 4
hearing and failed to attend or continue to attend the 5
hearing; or 6
(b) the court dispenses with the requirement to serve a copy 7
of the application on the person under section 221(6). 8
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not limit the court's jurisdiction to 9
exclude a person from a proceeding. 10
225 Court orders 11
(1) The court may discharge the final adoption order only if 12
satisfied of a ground mentioned in section 219. 13
(2) If the applicant is not the adopted person, the court must not 14
discharge the order if it considers the discharge is likely to be 15
contrary to the adopted person's wellbeing and best interests. 16
(3) The order may be discharged even if the adopted person is an 17
adult. 18
(4) If the adopted person is a child and has any views about the 19
proposed discharge and is able to express the views, having 20
regard to the child's age or ability to understand, the court 21
must consider the views. 22
(5) If the court makes an order discharging the final adoption 23
order, it may also make any other order it considers 24
appropriate in the interests of justice or to ensure the adopted 25
person's wellbeing and best interests including, for example, 26
an order about-- 27
(a) the ownership of property; or 28
(b) the adopted person's name; or 29
(c) if the adopted person is a child, custody or guardianship 30
of the child. 31
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Part 10 Court proceedings
[s 226]
226 Effect of discharge 1
(1) On the making of an order discharging the final adoption 2
order (the discharge order), the rights, privileges, duties, 3
liabilities and relationships of the child and all other persons 4
are the same as if the final adoption order had not been made. 5
(2) However, the making of the discharge order does not affect-- 6
(a) anything lawfully done, or the consequences of anything 7
lawfully done, while the final adoption order was in 8
force; or 9
(b) a right, privilege or liability acquired, accrued or 10
incurred while the final adoption order was in force. 11
(3) The discharge order does not affect a consent given to the 12
child's adoption unless the court decides otherwise. 13
(4) For the purpose of a law relating to a sexual offence for which 14
relationships are relevant, a relationship between a child and 15
another person that existed immediately before the making of 16
the discharge order continues, despite the discharge order, in 17
addition to other relationships that exist because of the 18
discharge order. 19
(5) This section applies subject to an order under section 225(5). 20
Part 10 Court proceedings 21
Division 1 Preliminary 22
227 Application of pt 10 23
This part applies to a proceeding under this Act. 24
Page 133
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Part 10 Court proceedings
[s 228]
Division 2 Constitution of court and 1
procedural provisions 2
228 Court's constitution 3
When exercising its jurisdiction under this Act, the Childrens 4
Court may not be constituted under the Childrens Court Act 5
1992, section 5(3)(c). 6
229 Court's paramount consideration 7
In exercising its jurisdiction or powers, the Childrens Court 8
must regard the wellbeing and best interests of the child as 9
paramount. 10
230 Evidence 11
(1) In a proceeding, the Childrens Court is not bound by the rules 12
of evidence, but may inform itself in any way it thinks 13
appropriate. 14
(2) If, on an application for an order, the Childrens Court is to be 15
satisfied of a matter, the court need only be satisfied of the 16
matter on the balance of probabilities. 17
231 Court to ensure parties understand proceeding 18
(1) The Childrens Court must, as far as practicable, ensure the 19
parties to a proceeding understand the nature, purpose and 20
legal implications of the proceeding and of any order or ruling 21
made by the court. 22
(2) If a party to a proceeding has a difficulty communicating in 23
English or a disability that prevents him or her from 24
understanding or taking part in the proceeding, the Childrens 25
Court must not hear the proceeding without an interpreter to 26
translate things said in the proceeding or a person to facilitate 27
his or her taking part in the proceeding. 28
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Part 10 Court proceedings
[s 232]
232 Expert help 1
(1) In a proceeding, the Childrens Court may appoint a person 2
having a special knowledge or skill to help the court. 3
(2) The court may act under subsection (1) on the court's own 4
initiative or on the application of a party to the proceeding. 5
233 Right of appearance and representation 6
(1) The parties to a proceeding may appear in person or be 7
represented by a lawyer. 8
(2) Also, if a child's parents for any reason can not appear in 9
person in a proceeding concerning the child, another person 10
appointed in writing by the parents may, with the leave of the 11
court, present their views and wishes. 12
(3) In this section-- 13
party, for a proceeding on an application for an adoption 14
order, includes the child. 15
234 Right of appearance of departmental coordinators 16
(1) A coordinator may appear in a proceeding. 17
(2) In this section-- 18
coordinator means an officer or employee of the department 19
who is authorised in writing by the chief executive to appear 20
in proceedings under this Act. 21
235 Separate legal representation of child 22
(1) This section applies in a proceeding on an application for an 23
order under this Act. 24
(2) If the Childrens Court considers it is in the child's best 25
interests for the child to be separately represented by a lawyer, 26
the court may-- 27
(a) order that the child be separately represented by a 28
lawyer; and 29
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Part 10 Court proceedings
[s 236]
(b) make the other orders it considers necessary to secure 1
the child's separate legal representation. 2
(3) Without limiting subsection (2), the court must consider 3
making orders about the child's separate legal representation 4
if-- 5
(a) the application for the order is contested by a birth 6
parent; or 7
(b) the child opposes the application; or 8
(c) the application for the order is made under part 9, 9
division 4; or 10
(d) the child is or was a child in the child safety system 11
within the meaning given by the Commission for 12
Children Act, section 11A. 13
(4) The lawyer must-- 14
(a) act in the child's best interests regardless of any 15
instructions from the child; and 16
(b) as far as possible, present the child's views and wishes 17
to the court. 18
(5) In this section-- 19
child means-- 20
(a) the child whom it is proposed to adopt; and 21
(b) any birth parent who is not an adult. 22
236 Support for child 23
(1) In a proceeding on an application for an adoption order, the 24
Childrens Court may order the chief executive to appoint a 25
qualified person to support the child if the court considers it is 26
necessary in the child's best interests. 27
(2) In this section-- 28
qualified person see section 47(2). 29
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Part 10 Court proceedings
[s 237]
237 Legal representation of more than 1 child 1
(1) A lawyer may represent more than 1 child in the same 2
proceeding. 3
(2) However, if the court considers a lawyer should not represent 4
more than 1 child because of a conflict of interest, or a 5
possible conflict of interest, the court may order that a child 6
be represented by another lawyer. 7
238 Child can not be compelled to give evidence 8
(1) In a proceeding, a child may only be called to give evidence 9
with the leave of the Childrens Court. 10
(2) The court may grant leave only if the child-- 11
(a) is at least 12 years; and 12
(b) is represented by a lawyer; and 13
(c) agrees to give evidence. 14
(3) If the child gives evidence, he or she may be cross-examined 15
only with the leave of the court. 16
239 Court may hear submissions from non-parties to 17
proceeding 18
(1) In a proceeding, the Childrens Court may hear submissions 19
from the following persons-- 20
(a) a member of the family of the child to whom the 21
proceeding relates; 22
(b) anyone else the court considers is able to inform it on 23
any matter relevant to the proceeding. 24
(2) A submission may be made by a person's lawyer. 25
240 Transfer of proceedings 26
(1) If a magistrate constituting the Childrens Court is of the 27
opinion a proceeding before the magistrate should be heard by 28
the court constituted by a magistrate at another place, the 29
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Part 10 Court proceedings
[s 241]
magistrate may order that the proceeding be transferred to the 1
court constituted by a magistrate at the other place. 2
(2) A magistrate may act under subsection (1) on the magistrate's 3
own initiative or on the application of a party to the 4
proceeding. 5
241 Hearing of applications together 6
(1) The Childrens Court may hear 2 or more applications for 7
orders together if, before any of the applications are decided, a 8
party to the proceeding for any of the applications asks that 9
the applications be heard together and the court considers it is 10
in the interests of justice that the applications be heard 11
together. 12
(2) Subsection (1) applies even though the parties, or all of the 13
parties, to the proceedings are not the same. 14
242 Costs 15
The parties to a proceeding in the Childrens Court for an order 16
must pay their own costs of the proceeding. 17
Division 3 Appeals 18
243 Who may appeal 19
A party to the proceeding for an application for any of the 20
following orders may appeal to the appellate court against a 21
decision on the application-- 22
(a) an order dispensing with the need for a parent's consent 23
to an adoption; 24
(b) an interim order; 25
(c) an order discharging an interim order; 26
(d) an order under section 194(1)(a) ending a person's 27
custody of a child; 28
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Part 10 Court proceedings
[s 244]
(e) a final adoption order, but only if the decision is to 1
refuse the application; 2
(f) an order, included in a final adoption order, about the 3
adopted child's name; 4
(g) an order under section 275 that the chief executive must 5
not give particular information to a particular person. 6
244 How to start appeal 7
(1) The appeal is started by filing a notice of appeal with the 8
registrar of the appellate court. 9
(2) The appellant must serve a copy of the notice on the other 10
persons entitled to appeal against the decision. 11
(3) The notice of appeal must be filed within 28 days after the 12
decision is made. 13
(4) The court may at any time extend the period for filing the 14
notice of appeal. 15
(5) The notice of appeal must state fully the grounds of the appeal 16
and the facts relied on. 17
245 Stay of operation of decisions 18
If a person appeals against a decision under this division, the 19
decision is stayed until the end of the appeal. 20
246 Hearing procedures 21
(1) An appeal must be decided on the evidence and proceedings 22
before the Childrens Court. 23
(2) However, the appellate court may order that the appeal be 24
heard afresh, in whole or part. 25
247 Powers of appellate court 26
In deciding an appeal, the appellate court may-- 27
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Part 11 Access to adoption information
[s 248]
(a) confirm the decision appealed against; or 1
(b) vary the decision appealed against; or 2
(c) set aside the decision and substitute another decision; or 3
(d) set aside the decision appealed against and remit the 4
matter to the Childrens Court that made the decision. 5
Part 11 Access to adoption information 6
Division 1 Preliminary 7
248 Identifying information 8
(1) A reference in this part to information that identifies a person 9
includes information that is likely to lead to the identification 10
of the person. 11
(2) Information may identify a person, if given to another person, 12
because of other information that the other person has or is 13
able to obtain. 14
Example-- 15
A person's first name may identify the person if given to someone else 16
who is able to obtain information about the person's family and the area 17
in which the person lives. 18
249 Meaning of relative 19
(1) In this part-- 20
relative means a spouse, parent, sibling or child. 21
(2) To remove any doubt, it is declared that a reference in this part 22
to a relative of an adopted person or birth parent does not 23
include a person who was his or her parent, sibling or child 24
before the adoption but is not his or her parent, sibling or child 25
after the adoption. 26
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[s 250]
250 References to birth parent--who is a biological father 1
For the purpose of a reference in this part to a birth parent of 2
an adopted person, a man is the adopted person's biological 3
father only if-- 4
(a) the man is shown as the adopted person's father in the 5
register of births under the Births, Deaths and 6
Marriages Registration Act 2003; or 7
(b) the man consented to the adoption, or the need for his 8
consent was dispensed with, under the law in force at 9
the relevant time; or 10
(c) the chief executive holds a record or other sufficient 11
evidence that the man accepted paternity of the adopted 12
person before or at the time of the adoption; or 13
(d) the chief executive is otherwise satisfied, on the balance 14
of probabilities, the man is the adopted person's 15
biological father. 16
251 Application to persons who have died 17
(1) A reference in this part to an adult, in relation to a request for 18
information, includes a person who has died and who, but for 19
the death, would be an adult at the time of the request. 20
(2) A reference in this part to a person who is a child, in relation 21
to a request for information, includes a person who has died 22
and who, but for the death, would still be a child at the time of 23
the request. 24
(3) Without limiting subsections (1) and (2), a reference in this 25
part to information about a person includes information about 26
a person who has died. 27
(4) A reference in this part to a person who has a particular 28
relationship or connection with an adopted person includes a 29
person who has the relationship or connection with an adopted 30
person who has died. 31
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[s 252]
252 Prescribed documents 1
A prescribed document, relating to an adoption, is a copy of 2
any of the following given or made under this Act, the 3
repealed Act or an Act repealed by the repealed Act-- 4
(a) a parent's consent to the adoption; 5
(b) an order dispensing with the need for a parent's consent 6
to the adoption; 7
(c) an adoption order. 8
253 Release of altered documents 9
(1) This section applies if-- 10
(a) the chief executive is required to give a particular 11
document to a person in response to a request under 12
division 2 or 3; and 13
(b) the document contains information (restricted 14
information) that the chief executive must not give the 15
person because of another provision of this Act to which 16
division 2 or 3 is subject. 17
(2) The chief executive may give the document after altering it so 18
the restricted information can not be read. 19
254 How request for information is made 20
(1) A request for information under division 2 or 3 must be made 21
by-- 22
(a) giving the chief executive a signed request in the 23
approved form; and 24
(b) producing for the chief executive's inspection the 25
documents prescribed under a regulation relating to the 26
person's identity. 27
(2) Before granting a person's request for information about 28
another person, the chief executive may also require the first 29
person to produce reasonable proof of his or her relationship 30
to the other person by giving the chief executive particular 31
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Part 11 Access to adoption information
[s 255]
information or producing a particular document for the chief 1
executive's inspection. 2
Division 2 Access to particular identifying 3
information while adopted person is 4
a child 5
255 Application of div 2 6
This division applies in relation to an adopted person who is a 7
child. 8
256 Request by, or on behalf of, adopted child 9
(1) Either of the following persons (the applicant) may ask the 10
chief executive for pre-adoption information about the 11
adopted child-- 12
(a) an adoptive parent of the adopted child; 13
(b) the adopted child, but only with the consent of an 14
adoptive parent. 15
(2) The chief executive may give information in compliance with 16
the request only if written consent is given by each birth 17
parent who is identified by the information. 18
(3) A birth parent is taken to have given consent for subsection 19
(2) if the birth parent has asked for, and received, information 20
about the adopted child under section 257. 21
(4) Subject to subsection (2), the chief executive must comply 22
with the request by giving the applicant any of the following 23
held by the chief executive-- 24
(a) the adopted child's name before the adoption; 25
(b) a prescribed document; 26
(c) in relation to a birth parent of the adopted child-- 27
(i) the birth parent's name at the time of the adoption; 28
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Part 11 Access to adoption information
[s 257]
(ii) the birth parent's date of birth; 1
(iii) the birth parent's last known name and address; 2
(d) in relation to any other adopted person who is an adult 3
and who has at least 1 birth parent who is also a birth 4
parent of the adopted child-- 5
(i) the person's date of birth; 6
(ii) the person's name immediately after the person's 7
adoption; 8
(iii) the person's last known name and address, but only 9
with the person's written consent. 10
(5) If a birth parent gives consent, it may relate to all the 11
information under subsection (4) or to all the information 12
other than the birth parent's last known name and address. 13
(6) If a person's consent is required under subsection (2) or 14
(4)(d)(iii) but the person has died, an adult relative of the 15
person may give the consent. 16
(7) If a person's consent is required under subsection (2) or 17
(4)(d)(iii) but the person does not have capacity to consent, a 18
guardian or adult relative of the person may give the consent. 19
257 Request by birth parent 20
(1) A birth parent of the adopted child may ask the chief 21
executive for information about the adopted child. 22
(2) The chief executive may give information in compliance with 23
the request only if-- 24
(a) written consent is given by an adoptive parent of the 25
child; and 26
(b) the chief executive has considered the adopted child's 27
views, if the child is able to form and express views; and 28
(c) the chief executive is satisfied that giving the 29
information is not likely to be contrary to the child's 30
wellbeing and best interests. 31
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(3) An adoptive parent is taken to have given consent for 1
subsection (2) if the adoptive parent has asked for, or given 2
consent for the adopted child to ask for, information about the 3
birth parent under section 256 and information was given 4
under that section. 5
(4) Subject to subsection (2), the chief executive must comply 6
with the request by giving the birth parent any of the 7
following held by the chief executive-- 8
(a) in relation to the adopted child-- 9
(i) his or her name immediately after the adoption; 10
(ii) his or her last known name and address; 11
(b) the name, at the time of the adoption, of an adoptive 12
parent of the adopted child; 13
(c) a prescribed document. 14
(5) If an adoptive parent gives consent, it may relate to all the 15
information under subsection (4) or to all the information 16
other than the adopted child's last known name and address. 17
(6) If the adopted child no longer has an adoptive parent, a parent 18
of the child at the time the request is made may give the 19
consent. 20
(7) If an adoptive parent of the child does not have capacity to 21
consent to the information being given, a guardian of the 22
adoptive parent or a parent of the child at the time the request 23
is made may give the consent. 24
(8) If a birth parent of the adopted child has died, an adult relative 25
of the birth parent may make a request under subsection (1) in 26
place of the birth parent. 27
(9) If a birth parent of the adopted child does not have capacity to 28
ask for information, a guardian or adult relative of the birth 29
parent may make a request under subsection (1) in place of the 30
birth parent. 31
(10) In this section-- 32
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[s 258]
parent, of a child, includes the chief executive (child safety), 1
or a corresponding officer in another jurisdiction, who is a 2
guardian of the child. 3
258 Taking steps to obtain consent to disclosure 4
(1) This section applies if a person's consent is required under 5
this division. 6
(2) The chief executive must take steps to contact the person and 7
ask if the person wishes to give the consent. 8
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a person who the chief 9
executive is aware does not wish to give the consent or to be 10
contacted for the purpose of asking for the consent. 11
259 Support for persons involved in disclosure of information 12
(1) The chief executive must provide the information, support or 13
counselling that the chief executive considers appropriate to 14
persons seeking information and persons whose consent to the 15
disclosure of information is sought. 16
(2) The purpose of providing the information, support or 17
counselling to a person is to help the person decide whether to 18
seek the information, or consent to the disclosure of the 19
information, at that time. 20
(3) The information that the chief executive may give to a person 21
making a decision mentioned in subsection (2) includes 22
personal information about another person that may influence 23
the decision. 24
260 Adoption plan may include consent or request not to be 25
asked for consent 26
(1) A person may give an information consent or non-contact 27
request to the chief executive by signing an adoption plan that 28
includes the consent or request and giving a copy of the plan 29
to the chief executive. 30
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(2) Subsection (1) does not limit the ways a person may give an 1
information consent or non-contact request to the chief 2
executive. 3
(3) In this section-- 4
information consent, of a person, means the person's consent 5
to the giving of information under this division. 6
non-contact request, by a person, means a request to the chief 7
executive not to contact the person for the purpose of asking 8
the person if he or she wishes to consent to the giving of 9
information under this division. 10
261 Access to information is subject to court order 11
This division applies subject to section 275. 12
Division 3 Access to particular information 13
when adopted person is an adult 14
262 Application of div 3 15
This division applies in relation to an adopted person who is 16
an adult. 17
263 Request by adopted person 18
(1) The adopted person may ask the chief executive for 19
pre-adoption information about the person. 20
(2) The chief executive must comply with the request by giving 21
the person any of the following held by the chief executive-- 22
(a) the person's name before the adoption; 23
(b) a prescribed document; 24
(c) in relation to a birth parent of the person-- 25
(i) the birth parent's name at the time of the adoption; 26
(ii) the birth parent's date of birth; 27
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(iii) the birth parent's last known name and address, but 1
only with his or her written consent; 2
(d) in relation to any other adopted person who is an adult 3
and who has at least 1 birth parent who is also a birth 4
parent of the first adopted person-- 5
(i) the person's date of birth; 6
(ii) the person's name immediately after the person's 7
adoption; 8
(iii) the person's last known name and address, but only 9
with the person's written consent. 10
(3) If a person's consent is required under subsection (2)(c)(iii) or 11
(d)(iii) but the person has died, an adult relative of the person 12
may give the consent. 13
(4) If a person's consent is required under subsection (2)(c)(iii) or 14
(d)(iii) but the person does not have capacity to consent, a 15
guardian or adult relative of the person may give the consent. 16
264 Request by adult relative in place of adopted person 17
(1) This section applies if the adopted person has died or does not 18
have capacity to ask for information. 19
(2) An adult relative of the adopted person may make a request 20
under section 263 for pre-adoption information about the 21
adopted person. 22
265 Request by birth parent 23
(1) A birth parent of the adopted person may ask the chief 24
executive for information about the adopted person. 25
(2) The chief executive must comply with the request by giving 26
the birth parent any of the following held by the chief 27
executive-- 28
(a) in relation to the adopted person-- 29
(i) the person's name immediately after the adoption; 30
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(ii) the person's last known name and address, but only 1
with the person's written consent; 2
(b) the name, at the time of the adoption, of an adoptive 3
parent of the adopted person; 4
(c) a prescribed document. 5
(3) If the adopted person has died, an adult relative of the person 6
may give the consent required under subsection (2)(a)(ii). 7
(4) If the adopted person does not have capacity to consent, a 8
guardian or adult relative of the person may give the consent 9
required under subsection (2)(a)(ii). 10
266 Request by adult relative in place of birth parent 11
(1) This section applies if a birth parent of an adopted person has 12
died or does not have capacity to ask for information. 13
(2) An adult relative of the birth parent may make a request under 14
section 265 for information about the adopted person. 15
267 Request by pre-adoption sibling 16
(1) An adult person (the applicant) may ask the chief executive 17
for information about the adopted person if-- 18
(a) the applicant would be a sibling of the adopted person if 19
the adoption had not happened; and 20
(b) the applicant is not also an adopted person. 21
(2) The chief executive may give information in compliance with 22
the request only if written consent is given by the adopted 23
person. 24
(3) The chief executive must not give information in compliance 25
with the request if-- 26
(a) the adoption happened before 1 June 1991; and 27
(b) a birth parent of the adopted person has made a contact 28
statement that the birth parent does not wish to be 29
contacted by the adopted person. 30
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(4) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the chief executive must 1
comply with the request by giving the person any of the 2
following held by the chief executive-- 3
(a) the adopted person's date of birth; 4
(b) the adopted person's last known name and address; 5
(c) a prescribed document. 6
(5) If an adopted person gives consent, it may relate to all the 7
information under subsection (4) or to all the information 8
other than the adopted person's last known name and address. 9
(6) If an adopted person has died, an adult relative of the person 10
may give the consent. 11
(7) If an adopted person does not have capacity to consent, a 12
guardian or adult relative of the person may give the consent. 13
268 Limitations on access to information 14
This division applies subject to division 4 and section 275. 15
Division 4 Contact statements and related 16
matters 17
269 Contact statements 18
(1) An adopted person who is at least 17 years and 6 months old, 19
or a birth parent of an adopted person, may give the chief 20
executive a signed document in the approved form (a contact 21
statement) stating the person's wish about being contacted by 22
another stated person who may ask for information about the 23
person under division 3. 24
(2) A contact statement may state that-- 25
(a) the person does not wish to be contacted by another 26
stated person; or 27
(b) the person wishes any contact with another stated person 28
to happen only in a stated way. 29
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Examples-- 1
· contact is to happen only by telephone 2
· in-person contact is to happen only at a neutral place in the 3
presence of a mediator 4
(3) A contact statement may also state the person's wishes about 5
being contacted by the chief executive in relation to giving 6
consent to the disclosure of information about the person 7
under division 2 or 3. 8
270 Contact statement obligations for post-June 1991 9
adoptions 10
(1) This section applies if-- 11
(a) a person (the applicant) asks the chief executive, under 12
division 3, for information about another person (the 13
second person) who is an adopted person or a birth 14
parent of an adopted person; and 15
(b) the second person has given the chief executive a 16
contact statement concerning contact with the applicant; 17
and 18
(c) the adoption happened on or after 1 June 1991. 19
(2) Before giving any of the requested information to the 20
applicant, the chief executive must pass on to the applicant-- 21
(a) the contents of the contact statement; and 22
(b) if the contact statement is that the second person does 23
not wish to be contacted by the applicant-- 24
(i) the explanation for that wish (except to the extent 25
that the chief executive knows the second person 26
does not want the explanation to be passed on); or 27
(ii) if the chief executive is not aware of the 28
explanation, reasons that are typically given by 29
persons who do not wish to be contacted. 30
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[s 271]
271 Contact statement obligations for pre-June 1991 1
adoptions 2
(1) This section applies if-- 3
(a) a person (the applicant) asks the chief executive, under 4
division 3, for information about another person (the 5
second person) who is an adopted person or a birth 6
parent of an adopted person; and 7
(b) the second person has given the chief executive a 8
contact statement concerning contact with the applicant; 9
and 10
(c) the adoption happened before 1 June 1991. 11
(2) Before giving any of the requested information to the 12
applicant, the chief executive must pass on the contents of the 13
contact statement to the applicant. 14
(3) If the contact statement is that the second person does not 15
wish to be contacted by the applicant, the chief executive must 16
not give any of the requested information about the second 17
person to the applicant unless-- 18
(a) a qualified officer speaks with the applicant, in person or 19
by telephone, to-- 20
(i) advise of the second person's wish not to be 21
contacted; and 22
(ii) pass on the explanation for the second person's 23
wish not to be contacted (except to the extent that 24
the chief executive knows the second person does 25
not want the explanation to be passed on) or, if the 26
chief executive is not aware of the explanation, 27
reasons that are typically given by persons who do 28
not wish to be contacted; and 29
(iii) explain the offence under section 272; and 30
(b) the applicant gives the chief executive a signed 31
statement, in the approved form, that-- 32
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[s 271]
(i) on a stated day, a qualified officer spoke with the 1
applicant about the matters stated in paragraph (a); 2
and 3
(ii) the applicant acknowledges -- 4
(A) the second person's wish not to be contacted; 5
and 6
(B) that it is an offence for the applicant to do a 7
thing stated in section 272(1)(d) in the 8
circumstances stated in that section. 9
(4) If the chief executive considers it appropriate, the chief 10
executive may delay giving the applicant the requested 11
information for the reasonable period required for the chief 12
executive to-- 13
(a) advise the second person that the applicant has asked the 14
chief executive for the information; and 15
(b) offer the second person an opportunity to give the chief 16
executive information, or further information, about 17
why the second person does not wish to be contacted by 18
the applicant; and 19
(c) if information is given under paragraph (b), pass it on to 20
the applicant to help the applicant better understand the 21
second person's wishes about contact. 22
(5) The chief executive may offer the applicant or second person 23
other information, counselling or support that the chief 24
executive considers appropriate (before or after the chief 25
executive discloses the information). 26
(6) In this section-- 27
qualified officer means an officer of the department who the 28
chief executive is satisfied has appropriate qualifications or 29
experience to carry out interviews under this section. 30
telephone includes any technology allowing reasonably 31
contemporaneous and continuous communication between 2 32
or more persons. 33
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[s 272]
272 Offence about contact for pre-June 1991 adoptions 1
(1) A person (the first person) commits an offence if-- 2
(a) the first person knows that another person (the second 3
person) has given the chief executive a contact 4
statement stating that the second person does not wish to 5
be contacted by the first person; and 6
(b) the contact statement is current; and 7
(c) the second person is an adopted person, or a birth parent 8
of an adopted person, for an adoption that happened 9
before 1 June 1991; and 10
(d) the first person does any of the following in relation to 11
another person, knowing that the other person is the 12
second person or a relative of the second person-- 13
(i) contacts or attempts to contact the other person; 14
(ii) arranges or attempts to arrange contact with the 15
other person; 16
(iii) procures someone else to contact or arrange 17
contact with the other person. 18
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units or 2 years 19
imprisonment. 20
(2) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence against 21
subsection (1), in relation to contact with another person, to 22
prove-- 23
(a) the person had contact with the other person (the 24
previous contact) before the person acquired the 25
knowledge mentioned in subsection (1)(a) and (d); and 26
Examples-- 27
1 The person had contact with the other person in the course 28
of the person's employment before knowing the other 29
person was the second person or a relative of the second 30
person. 31
2 The person had contact with the other person before the 32
contact statement mentioned in subsection (1)(a) was given 33
to the chief executive. 34
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[s 273]
(b) the contact is a continuation of, or equivalent to, the 1
previous contact. 2
273 Currency and revocation of contact statements 3
(1) This section applies to a contact statement given by a person 4
to the chief executive. 5
(2) The contact statement continues in force until it is revoked by 6
the person or the person dies. 7
(3) The person may revoke the contact statement by giving the 8
chief executive a signed notice of revocation in the approved 9
form. 10
274 Persons making contact statements presumed to be 11
living 12
(1) This section applies if a person has given the chief executive a 13
contact statement and has not revoked it. 14
(2) In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the chief executive 15
must presume the person is still alive. 16
(3) The chief executive must take steps to find out whether the 17
person is still alive if-- 18
(a) the chief executive receives a request from someone (the 19
applicant) for information about the person under 20
division 3; and 21
(b) the contact statement is that the person does not wish to 22
be contacted by the applicant; and 23
(c) the chief executive is aware of information indicating 24
the person has died or may have died. 25
(4) Otherwise, the chief executive is not required to take steps at 26
any time to determine whether the person is still alive. 27
Note-- 28
Under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2003, section 29
48D, the chief executive and the registrar may enter into an arrangement 30
for giving information about whether a person giving a contact 31
statement has died. 32
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[s 275]
Division 5 Miscellaneous 1
275 Court order restricting access to information 2
(1) An application may be made to the Childrens Court for an 3
order that the chief executive must not give stated information 4
to a stated person (the relevant person) under division 2 or 3. 5
(2) The application may be made by an adopted person, a birth 6
parent or adoptive parent of an adopted person or the chief 7
executive. 8
(3) As soon as practicable after filing the application in the court, 9
the applicant must serve a copy of it on the relevant person 10
and, if the applicant is not the chief executive, serve a copy on 11
the chief executive. 12
(4) A served copy must state where and when the application is to 13
be heard. 14
(5) The court may dispense with the requirement to serve a copy 15
of the application on the relevant person if the court is 16
satisfied of any of the following matters-- 17
(a) the applicant can not locate the relevant person after 18
making all reasonable enquiries; 19
(b) there would be an unacceptable risk of harm to the 20
applicant (other than the chief executive) or someone 21
else if the relevant person were made aware of the 22
application; 23
(c) there are other special circumstances for giving the 24
dispensation. 25
(6) The court may make the order if satisfied there would be an 26
unacceptable risk of harm to the applicant (other than the 27
chief executive) or someone else if the information were 28
given. 29
(7) The application may be made and dealt with during 30
proceedings for an adoption order or after an adoption order is 31
made. 32
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[s 276]
(8) While the application is pending, the chief executive may 1
withhold the information from release under division 2 or 3. 2
276 Chief executive may obtain or disclose non-identifying 3
medical information 4
(1) The chief executive may contact a biological parent of an 5
adopted person for the purpose of obtaining information about 6
the medical history of the biological parent or another 7
biological relative of the adopted person. 8
(2) The chief executive may disclose, to an adopted person, 9
information about the medical history of a biological relative 10
of the adopted person. 11
(3) The chief executive may disclose, to a biological relative of an 12
adopted person, information about the adopted person's 13
medical history that relates to a condition that may have been 14
inherited from a biological relative. 15
(4) The chief executive may disclose information to a person that 16
is likely to identify an adopted person or biological relative 17
only if-- 18
(a) the chief executive-- 19
(i) could give the information to the person on a 20
request under this part; and 21
(ii) has not been asked by the biological relative or 22
adopted person not to disclose the information; or 23
(b) the chief executive is satisfied there is an unacceptable 24
risk that a person's health may be significantly adversely 25
affected if the information is not given or there are other 26
exceptional circumstances in which the disclosure is 27
justified. 28
(5) It does not matter for this section whether a person who is 29
contacted, or to whom information is given, or to whom 30
information relates, is a person who has made a contact 31
statement not to be contacted. 32
(6) At the request of a person who is an adopted person or 33
biological relative of an adopted person, the chief executive 34
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[s 277]
may, instead of giving the information to the person, give the 1
information to a medical practitioner nominated by the 2
person. 3
(7) Information that may be given to an adopted person under this 4
section may, for an adopted person who is a child, be given to 5
a parent of the adopted person. 6
(8) A person is not required to give or receive information under 7
this section. 8
(9) In this section-- 9
biological relative, of an adopted person, means-- 10
(a) a biological parent of the adopted person; or 11
(b) another person related to the adopted person other than a 12
person related only because of a marriage. 13
277 Intercountry adoption 14
(1) This section applies to an intercountry adoption if the relevant 15
competent authority or a birth family member has given 16
information or a document to the chief executive for the 17
purpose of giving it to the adopted person or his or her 18
adoptive parents. 19
(2) If the information or document is for the adoptive parents, the 20
chief executive must give it to the adoptive parents. 21
(3) If the information or document is for the adopted person, the 22
chief executive must, subject to any instructions from the 23
competent authority or birth family member, give the 24
information or document-- 25
(a) if the adopted person is a child--to the adoptive parents; 26
or 27
(b) if the adopted person is an adult--to the adopted person. 28
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[s 278]
Division 6 Mailbox service 1
278 What is the mailbox service 2
(1) The mailbox service is a service conducted by the chief 3
executive to enable parties to an adoption and other particular 4
persons to exchange information. 5
(2) The information may be-- 6
(a) non-identifying, where the persons-- 7
(i) would not otherwise be able to exchange the 8
information because of this part; or 9
(ii) are able to obtain identifying information about 10
each other but choose to communicate on a 11
non-identifying basis; or 12
(a) identifying, where the persons have identifying 13
information about each other and choose to use the 14
service to exchange information. 15
279 Other definitions for div 6 16
In this division-- 17
concerning matter see section 284(3)(b). 18
document includes any item, other than money, that the chief 19
executive considers it would be reasonably practicable to pass 20
on through the mailbox service. 21
exchange means give or receive by way of the chief 22
executive. 23
identifying information, in relation to an adoption-- 24
(a) means information that identifies a party to an adoption; 25
and 26
Note-- 27
See section 248. 28
(b) includes a photograph of a party to the adoption taken 29
when the party was at least 2 years old, other than a 30
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[s 280]
photograph to which an approval under section 287 1
applies. 2
money includes a gift card, cheque or money order. 3
non-identifying information means information other than 4
identifying information. 5
notice of intention means a notice under section 283. 6
participant means a person who-- 7
(a) is eligible to take part in the mailbox service under 8
section 280; and 9
(b) has given the chief executive a notice of intention. 10
280 Who is eligible to take part 11
(1) A party to an adoption may take part in the mailbox service. 12
(2) However, while an adopted person is a child, he or she may 13
take part only with the written consent of an adoptive parent. 14
(3) An adult relative of a birth parent who is not a party to the 15
adoption may take part if the birth parent gives consent, does 16
not have capacity to give consent or has died. 17
(4) A consent under this section may be limited to exchanging 18
non-identifying information. 19
281 Exchanging non-identifying information 20
A participant in the mailbox service may exchange 21
non-identifying information with another participant. 22
282 Exchanging identifying information 23
(1) A participant may exchange identifying information with 24
another participant only if-- 25
(a) either-- 26
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[s 283]
(i) the chief executive has given identifying 1
information to each participant on an application 2
under division 2 or 3; or 3
(ii) the participants are parties to an intercountry 4
adoption or their participation relates to an 5
intercountry adoption; and 6
(b) each participant has given a notice of intention stating 7
that he or she wishes to exchange identifying 8
information. 9
(2) For an adult relative of a birth parent who is a participant 10
under section 280(3), subsection (1)(a) applies as if the birth 11
parent were the participant instead of the adult relative. 12
283 Notice of intention to take part 13
(1) A person who wishes to take part in the mailbox service, and 14
who is eligible to take part, must-- 15
(a) give the chief executive a signed notice in the approved 16
form; and 17
(b) produce for the chief executive's inspection the 18
documents prescribed under a regulation relating to the 19
person's identity. 20
(2) The notice must state whether the person wishes to exchange 21
identifying information. 22
(3) The notice may also include other information necessary or 23
convenient to enable the person's participation. 24
Examples-- 25
1 If the person wishes to exchange only non-identifying information, 26
the person may state a name that he or she would like to use in 27
correspondence. 28
2 The person may state whether the person wishes the chief executive 29
to forward letters to the person as soon as they are received or to 30
hold any letters until the person asks for them to be forwarded or 31
collects them in person. 32
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[s 284]
284 Receipt and review of documents 1
(1) A participant (the sender) may give a document to the chief 2
executive to pass on to another participant (the addressee). 3
(2) Unless, under section 282, the sender may exchange 4
identifying information with the addressee, the chief executive 5
must review the document to ensure it contains only 6
non-identifying information. 7
(3) The chief executive must also review the document to ensure 8
it does not contain anything the chief executive considers-- 9
(a) may be distressing for the addressee; or 10
(b) is abusive, offensive or intended to intimidate, harass or 11
threaten the addressee (concerning matter). 12
285 Document with no identifying information or concerning 13
matter 14
(1) This section applies if the chief executive is satisfied a 15
document received under section 284 does not contain-- 16
(a) identifying information that it may not contain; or 17
(b) any concerning matter. 18
(2) Subject to subsection (3), if the chief executive is able to pass 19
it on as requested, the chief executive must do so and then 20
notify the sender that it has been passed on. 21
(3) If the document contains information that may be distressing 22
for the addressee (for example, news of someone's death), the 23
chief executive may pass on the document in a way, and at a 24
time, that the chief executive considers may minimise the 25
possible distress. 26
Example-- 27
The chief executive may arrange for an officer of the department to pass 28
on the document personally and give support to the addressee. 29
(4) If the chief executive is not able to pass it on as requested, the 30
chief executive must-- 31
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[s 286]
(a) notify the sender that it is not currently possible to pass 1
on the document; and 2
(b) hold the document until it is possible to pass it on, 3
subject to any other request from the sender. 4
286 Document with identifying information or concerning 5
matter 6
(1) This section applies if the chief executive considers a 7
document received under section 284 contains-- 8
(a) identifying information that it may not contain; or 9
(b) any concerning matter. 10
(2) The chief executive must notify the sender why the document 11
may not be passed on in that form. 12
(3) On request by the sender, the chief executive must-- 13
(a) pass on a part of the document that does not contain the 14
identifying information or concerning matter; or 15
(b) pass on the document after altering it so it does not 16
contain the identifying information or concerning 17
matter; or 18
Example of alteration-- 19
blocking out parts of a letter containing identifying information 20
so those parts can not be read 21
(c) return the document to the sender; or 22
(d) destroy or otherwise deal with the document. 23
(4) If the sender does not make a request under subsection (3), the 24
chief executive may keep the document or return it to the 25
sender. 26
287 Photographs of persons more than 2 years old 27
(1) A photograph of a person aged more than 2 years, exchanged 28
between participants through the mailbox service, is taken to 29
be information that identifies the person in the photograph 30
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[s 287]
unless the chief executive has given an approval for the 1
participants-- 2
(a) to exchange that photograph; or 3
(b) to exchange photographs generally. 4
(2) A participant may apply to the chief executive for an approval 5
to exchange a stated photograph, or to exchange photographs 6
generally, with another stated participant. 7
(3) If the chief executive gives the approval, it must state each 8
participant (relevant participant) who may exchange the 9
relevant photograph or exchange photographs generally. 10
(4) The chief executive may give the approval if-- 11
(a) the chief executive is satisfied an exchange of the 12
particular photograph or of photographs generally by the 13
relevant participants is unlikely to-- 14
(i) harm the relevant adopted person's wellbeing or 15
best interests; or 16
(ii) enable a relevant participant to identify or locate 17
another relevant participant or party to the 18
adoption; and 19
(b) each relevant participant has given to the chief executive 20
a signed notice agreeing not to use, or attempt to use, a 21
photograph to which the approval relates to identify or 22
locate another relevant participant or party to the 23
adoption. 24
(5) If a person gives the chief executive a notice under subsection 25
(4)(b) and is given, through the mailbox service, a photograph 26
to which the approval relates, the person must not use, or 27
attempt to use, the photograph to identify or locate another 28
relevant participant or party to the adoption. 29
Maximum penalty for subsection (5)--40 penalty units. 30
Page 164
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 12 Registration of adoptions
[s 288]
Part 12 Registration of adoptions 1
288 Definitions for pt 12 2
In this part-- 3
adopted children register means the register, maintained 4
under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 5
2003, section 40, for adoptions under this Act. 6
closed entry means an entry that has been closed under the 7
Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2003, section 8
14, 41A or 41B. 9
entry includes a closed entry. 10
289 Chief executive must notify registrar 11
(1) This section applies if-- 12
(a) the Childrens Court makes a final adoption order; or 13
(b) the Supreme Court makes an order discharging a final 14
adoption order. 15
(2) As soon as practicable after the order is made, the chief 16
executive must give notice of the order to the registrar. 17
290 Entitlement to certificate, information or source 18
document relating to particular entries 19
(1) This section applies to-- 20
(a) a person who has been given information under part 11, 21
division 2 or 3 about another person; or 22
(b) a birth parent of an adopted person; or 23
(c) another person prescribed under a regulation. 24
(2) On request by the person, the chief executive must give the 25
person an authorisation to obtain a certificate, information or a 26
document under this section. 27
(3) However, the authorisation-- 28
Page 165
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 12 Registration of adoptions
[s 290]
(a) must not relate to any information that the chief 1
executive may not disclose to the person on a request 2
under part 11; and 3
(b) may exclude information if the chief executive is 4
satisfied that allowing access to the information would 5
be an unreasonable invasion of a person's privacy or 6
otherwise unreasonably harm a person's interests. 7
Example-- 8
The authorisation may exclude a part of a document showing the 9
adopted person's birth was the result of a sexual offence. 10
(4) The person may make an application under the Births, Deaths 11
and Marriages Registration Act 2003, section 44, 12
accompanied by an authorisation from the chief executive, for 13
a certificate, information or copy of a source document 14
mentioned in that section to which the authorisation relates 15
(the requested information). 16
(5) The registrar must grant the application if it relates to an entry 17
for the adopted person in the register of births. 18
(6) Also, the registrar must grant the application if-- 19
(a) it relates to an entry for the adopted person in the 20
adopted children register; and 21
(b) the applicant is a birth parent or a relative of a birth 22
parent. 23
(7) A certificate or copy of a source document given under 24
subsection (6), or given under this section and relating to a 25
closed entry, must be endorsed `Not to be used for official 26
purposes'. 27
Page 166
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 13 Recognition of adoptions and related matters
[s 291]
Part 13 Recognition of adoptions and 1
related matters 2
Division 1 Recognition of interstate and 3
overseas adoptions 4
291 Recognition of Australian and New Zealand adoptions 5
(1) For the purposes of the laws of Queensland, the adoption of a 6
person in another State under the law of that State, that has not 7
been rescinded under the law of that State, has the same effect 8
as an adoption order made in Queensland under this Act, and 9
has no other effect. 10
(2) Subsection (1) applies to an adoption whether it happened 11
before or after the commencement of this Act. 12
(3) In this section-- 13
State includes New Zealand. 14
292 Recognition of adoptions granted in convention 15
countries 16
(1) This section applies to an adoption granted in a convention 17
country if-- 18
(a) when the adoption is granted-- 19
(i) the adopted child is habitually resident in a 20
convention country; and 21
(ii) the adoptive parent is habitually resident in a 22
convention country, Australia or New Zealand; and 23
(b) an adoption compliance certificate, issued in the 24
convention country in which the adoption is granted, is 25
in force for the adoption. 26
(2) The adoption has effect as if it were an adoption order made 27
under this Act. 28
Page 167
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 13 Recognition of adoptions and related matters
[s 292]
(3) However, subsection (2) does not apply if the Childrens Court 1
makes a declaration of non-recognition of the adoption. 2
(4) The Childrens Court may make a declaration of 3
non-recognition of the adoption if satisfied the adoption is 4
manifestly contrary to public policy, taking into account the 5
child's wellbeing and best interests. 6
(5) An interested person may apply to the Childrens Court for a 7
declaration of non-recognition of the adoption. 8
(6) Before applying for the declaration, the person must give 9
written notice-- 10
(a) if the person is the chief executive--to the 11
Commonwealth central authority; or 12
(b) otherwise--to the chief executive. 13
(7) The notice must state that the person proposes to apply for the 14
declaration and the reasons for the proposed application. 15
(8) If the chief executive is given a notice under subsection 16
(6)(b), the chief executive must give a copy of the notice to 17
the Commonwealth central authority. 18
(9) If the applicant is not the chief executive, the chief executive 19
is entitled to be joined as a party to the proceedings 20
concerning the application. 21
(10) This section is subject to division 2. 22
(11) In this section-- 23
declaration of non-recognition, of an adoption granted in a 24
convention country, means a declaration that the adoption 25
does not have effect as if it were an adoption order made 26
under this Act. 27
interested person, for an adoption, means-- 28
(a) the chief executive; or 29
(b) an adoptive parent; or 30
(c) the adopted child. 31
Page 168
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 13 Recognition of adoptions and related matters
[s 293]
293 Recognition of adoptions granted in non-convention 1
countries 2
(1) This section applies to an adoption in a non-convention 3
country if-- 4
(a) the adoption was effective according to the law of that 5
country; and 6
(b) at the time at which the legal steps that resulted in the 7
adoption were commenced, the adoptive parent, or each 8
of the adoptive parents, was resident or domiciled in that 9
country and had been resident or domiciled in that 10
country for at least 1 year; and 11
(c) in consequence of the adoption, the adoptive parent or 12
adoptive parents had, or would (if the adopted person 13
had been a young child) have had, immediately 14
following the adoption, according to the law of that 15
country, a right superior to that of any biological parent 16
of the adopted person in respect of the custody of the 17
adopted person; and 18
(d) under the law of that country the adoptive parent or 19
adoptive parents were, by the adoption, placed generally 20
in relation to the adopted person in the position of a 21
parent or parents; and 22
(e) the adoption has not been rescinded under the law of 23
that country. 24
(2) For the purposes of the laws of Queensland, the adoption has 25
the same effect as an adoption order under this Act. 26
(3) If an issue relating to an adoption in a non-convention country 27
arises in a proceeding before a court, it must be presumed, in 28
the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the adoption is 29
one to which this section applies. 30
(4) However, a court may refuse to recognise an adoption as 31
being an adoption to which this section applies if it appears to 32
the court that the procedure followed or the law applied in 33
connection with the adoption involved a denial of natural 34
justice or did not comply with the requirements of substantial 35
justice. 36
Page 169
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 13 Recognition of adoptions and related matters
[s 294]
(5) A document purporting to be the original or a certified copy of 1
an order or record of adoption made by a court or a judicial or 2
public authority in a non-convention country is, in the absence 3
of proof to the contrary, sufficient evidence-- 4
(a) that the adoption was made in that country and is 5
effective under the law of that country; and 6
(b) that the adoption has not been rescinded. 7
(6) Except as provided in this section, the adoption of a person in 8
a non-convention country does not have effect for the 9
purposes of the laws of Queensland. 10
(7) Nothing in this section affects any right that was acquired by, 11
or became vested in, a person before the commencement of 12
the repealed Act. 13
Division 2 Simple adoptions 14
294 Definitions for div 2 15
In this division-- 16
conversion, of a simple adoption, means conversion into a full 17
adoption under article 27 of the Hague convention. 18
declaration of non-recognition, of the conversion of a simple 19
adoption, means a declaration that, despite the conversion, the 20
adoption is taken to remain a simple adoption. 21
full adoption means an adoption other than a simple adoption. 22
interested person, for an adoption, means-- 23
(a) the chief executive; or 24
(b) an adoptive parent; or 25
(c) the adopted child. 26
simple adoption means an adoption granted in a convention 27
country that, under the law of that country, does not end the 28
legal relationship between the adopted child and the 29
Page 170
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 13 Recognition of adoptions and related matters
[s 295]
individuals who were, immediately before the adoption, the 1
child's parents. 2
295 Simple adoption does not end parent-child relationship 3
Despite section 292(2), a simple adoption does not end the 4
legal relationship between the adopted child and the 5
individuals who were, immediately before the adoption, the 6
child's parents. 7
296 Conversion of simple adoption in convention country 8
(1) If a simple adoption is converted in a convention country, the 9
adoption is taken to be a full adoption. 10
(2) However, subsection (1) does not apply if the Childrens Court 11
makes a declaration of non-recognition of the conversion. 12
(3) The Childrens Court may make a declaration of 13
non-recognition of the conversion if it is satisfied the 14
conversion is manifestly contrary to public policy, taking into 15
account the child's best interests. 16
(4) An interested person may apply to the Childrens Court for a 17
declaration of non-recognition of the conversion. 18
(5) Before applying for the declaration, the person must give a 19
notice-- 20
(a) if the person is the chief executive--to the 21
Commonwealth central authority; or 22
(b) otherwise--to the chief executive. 23
(6) The notice must state that the person proposes to apply for the 24
declaration and the reasons for the proposed application. 25
(7) If the chief executive is given a notice under subsection 26
(5)(b), the chief executive must give a copy of the notice to 27
the Commonwealth central authority. 28
(8) If the applicant is not the chief executive, the chief executive 29
is entitled to be joined as a party to the proceedings 30
concerning the application. 31
Page 171
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 13 Recognition of adoptions and related matters
[s 297]
297 Conversion of simple adoption by Childrens Court 1
(1) An adoptive parent of a child under a simple adoption may 2
apply to the Childrens Court for an order declaring the 3
adoption to have effect as a full adoption. 4
(2) The applicant must serve a copy of the application on the 5
chief executive. 6
(3) The served copy must state the applicant's reasons for the 7
application. 8
(4) The chief executive must give a copy of the application to the 9
Commonwealth central authority. 10
(5) The chief executive is entitled to be joined as a party to the 11
proceedings concerning the application. 12
(6) The court may make the order only if satisfied-- 13
(a) an adoption compliance certificate, issued in the 14
convention country in which the adoption was granted, 15
is in force for the adoption; and 16
(b) the adoptive parent is habitually resident in Queensland; 17
and 18
(c) when the adoption was granted, the adopted child was 19
habitually resident in the convention country; and 20
(d) if the adopted child is not in Australia when the court 21
proposes to make the declaration--the child is not 22
prevented from entering Australia-- 23
(i) under a law of the Commonwealth or a State; or 24
(ii) by an order of a court of the Commonwealth or a 25
State; and 26
(e) the child is not prevented from residing permanently in 27
Australia-- 28
(i) under a law of the Commonwealth or a State; or 29
(ii) by an order of a court of the Commonwealth or a 30
State. 31
Page 172
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 13 Recognition of adoptions and related matters
[s 298]
(7) If the court makes the order, the adoption has effect as a full 1
adoption. 2
Division 3 Other matters concerning overseas 3
adoptions 4
298 Chief executive to have limited supervision of adopted 5
children 6
(1) This section applies if-- 7
(a) a child is adopted, in a country other than Australia or 8
New Zealand, under arrangements made between the 9
chief executive and the competent authority for the other 10
country; and 11
(b) the adoption has been in force for less than 1 year; and 12
(c) the child is present in Queensland. 13
(2) The chief executive may supervise the wellbeing and interests 14
of the child for the prescribed period, starting on the day the 15
child arrives in Queensland. 16
(3) A person must allow an authorised officer reasonable access 17
to the child to carry out the supervision. 18
(4) It does not matter for subsection (1)(a) whether the adoption is 19
one that, under this Act, has the same effect as an adoption 20
order under this Act. 21
(5) In this section-- 22
authorised officer means an officer of the department, or 23
adoption contract worker, authorised by the chief executive to 24
carry out supervision under this section. 25
prescribed period means a period of 1 year less the length of 26
any period, after the child's adoption but before the child's 27
arrival in Queensland, for which the child was resident in a 28
State, other than Queensland, or in New Zealand. 29
Page 173
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 13 Recognition of adoptions and related matters
[s 299]
299 Declarations of validity of overseas adoptions 1
(1) On application made by a person mentioned in subsection (2), 2
the Childrens Court may make an order declaring that an 3
adoption is one to which section 292 or 293 applies. 4
(2) Any of the following persons may make the application-- 5
(a) the adopted child; 6
(b) an adoptive parent; 7
(c) a person tracing a relationship, because of the adoption, 8
through or to the adopted child. 9
(3) The applicant must serve a copy of the application on the 10
chief executive at least 21 days before the day fixed for the 11
hearing of the application. 12
(4) The chief executive is entitled to be joined as a party to the 13
proceedings. 14
(5) The court may-- 15
(a) direct that notice of the application be given to the 16
Attorney-General or any other person the court 17
considers appropriate; or 18
(b) direct that a person be made a party to the application; 19
or 20
(c) permit a person having an interest in the matter to be 21
joined as a party to the proceedings. 22
(6) If the court grants the application, it may include in the order 23
any particulars relating to the adoption, the adopted child or 24
an adoptive parent as the court finds to be established. 25
(7) The court may make the orders about costs and security for 26
costs, whether by way of interlocutory order or otherwise, as 27
the court thinks just. 28
(8) For the purposes of the laws of Queensland, an order under 29
this section binds the State, whether or not notice was given to 30
the Attorney-General, but, except as provided in subsection 31
(9), does not affect-- 32
(a) the rights of a person other than-- 33
Page 174
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 14 Offences
[s 300]
(i) a party to the proceedings for the order; and 1
(ii) a person to whom notice of the application for the 2
order was given; and 3
(iii) a person claiming through a person mentioned in 4
subparagraph (i) or (ii); or 5
(b) an earlier judgment, order or decree of a court of 6
competent jurisdiction. 7
(9) In proceedings in a court in Queensland relating to the rights 8
of a person other than a person mentioned in subsection 9
(8)(a)(i) to (iii), a copy of an order made under this section, 10
certified by the registrar of the Supreme Court to be a true 11
copy, is evidence that an adoption-- 12
(a) was effected in accordance with the particulars 13
contained in the order; and 14
(b) is an adoption to which section 292 or 293 applies. 15
Part 14 Offences 16
300 Definitions for pt 14 17
In this part-- 18
for, the adoption of a child, includes towards, or with a view 19
to, the adoption of the child. 20
publish means publish to the public by television, radio, the 21
Internet, newspaper, periodical, notice, circular or other form 22
of communication. 23
301 Territorial application 24
This part applies in relation to-- 25
(a) the adoption of children in Queensland or children 26
adopted in Queensland; and 27
Page 175
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 14 Offences
[s 302]
(b) acts done in Queensland relating to the adoption of 1
children outside Queensland or children adopted outside 2
Queensland. 3
302 False representation about arranging adoption 4
A person (the first person) who is not performing a function 5
under or relating to this Act must not falsely represent to 6
another person that the first person is arranging or is able to 7
arrange-- 8
(a) the adoption of a child by the other person; or 9
(b) the adoption by someone of a child of the other person. 10
Maximum penalty-- 11
(a) for an individual--150 penalty units or 18 months 12
imprisonment; or 13
(b) for a corporation--1000 penalty units. 14
303 Giving or receiving consideration 15
(1) A person must not give or receive, or agree to give or receive, 16
a payment or other reward in consideration of-- 17
(a) the adoption or proposed adoption of a child; or 18
(b) the giving of consent to the adoption of a child; or 19
(c) the transfer of a child's care or custody with a view to 20
the child's adoption; or 21
(d) a negotiation or arrangement for a child's adoption. 22
Maximum penalty-- 23
(a) for an individual--150 penalty units or 18 months 24
imprisonment; or 25
(b) for a corporation--1000 penalty units. 26
(2) Subsection (1) applies before or after the birth of the relevant 27
child. 28
Page 176
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 14 Offences
[s 304]
(3) It is immaterial whether the adoption happens or may lawfully 1
happen. 2
304 Advertisements and other published matters 3
(1) A person must not publish an advertisement, news item or 4
other material stating that-- 5
(a) a parent of a child wishes to have the child adopted; or 6
(b) a person wishes to adopt a child; or 7
(c) a person is willing to negotiate, or make an arrangement, 8
for the adoption of the child. 9
Maximum penalty-- 10
(a) for an individual--150 penalty units or 18 months 11
imprisonment; or 12
(b) for a corporation--1000 penalty units. 13
(2) Subsection (1) applies whether or not the statement relates to 14
a particular child and whether or not the statement relates to a 15
child who has been born. 16
305 False or misleading information 17
(1) A person (the first person) must not give information under 18
this Act, to the chief executive or another person performing 19
functions under or relating to the administration of this Act, 20
that the first person knows is false or misleading in a material 21
particular. 22
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units. 23
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to information given in a 24
document if the first person, when giving the document-- 25
(a) informs the person being given the document, to the best 26
of the first person's ability, how the information is false 27
or misleading; and 28
(b) if the first person has, or can reasonably obtain, the 29
correct information--gives the correct information. 30
Page 177
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 14 Offences
[s 306]
306 Improperly witnessing a consent 1
A person (the witness) must not witness a person's form of 2
consent to the adoption of a child if-- 3
(a) the form of consent is in the approved form under 4
section 18 and the witness has not sighted the 5
documents prescribed for section 18(2)(c); or 6
(b) the witness knows, or ought to know, the other person-- 7
(i) is not the person named in the form of consent; or 8
(ii) is not a parent of the child; or 9
(iii) does not understand the effect of giving consent 10
and effect of adoption; or 11
(iv) does not have capacity to give the consent; or 12
(v) is not giving consent freely and voluntarily; or 13
(c) the witness is not present when the other person signs 14
the form of consent; or 15
(d) the form of consent does not show the correct date for 16
the day on which the consent is given. 17
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units. 18
307 Fraud or undue influence 19
(1) A person must not act fraudulently or use undue influence on 20
another person to-- 21
(a) induce a parent of a child to-- 22
(i) offer or refrain from offering the child for 23
adoption; or 24
(ii) give or revoke the parent's consent to the adoption 25
of the child; or 26
(iii) transfer a child's care or custody with a view to the 27
child's adoption; or 28
(b) influence the preferences expressed by a parent of a 29
child relating to the adoptive placement of the child. 30
Page 178
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 15 General
[s 308]
Maximum penalty--150 penalty units or 18 months 1
imprisonment. 2
(2) For this section, a person uses undue influence on another 3
person if the first person-- 4
(a) uses or threatens to use force or restraint against the 5
other person; or 6
(b) causes or threatens to cause injury or another detriment 7
to the other person. 8
(3) It is immaterial whether the adoption happens or may lawfully 9
happen. 10
Part 15 General 11
Division 1 Matters about offences and 12
proceedings 13
308 Types of offences 14
(1) An offence against this Act for which the maximum penalty 15
of imprisonment is 2 years is an indictable offence that is a 16
misdemeanour. 17
(2) Otherwise, an offence against this Act is a summary offence. 18
309 Proceedings for indictable offence 19
(1) A proceeding for an indictable offence against this Act may 20
be taken, at the election of the prosecution-- 21
(a) by way of summary proceeding under the Justices Act 22
1886; or 23
(b) on indictment. 24
(2) A magistrate must not hear an indictable offence summarily 25
if-- 26
Page 179
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 15 General
[s 310]
(a) the defendant asks at the start of the hearing that the 1
charge be prosecuted on indictment; or 2
(b) the magistrate believes the charge should be prosecuted 3
on indictment. 4
(3) If subsection (2) applies-- 5
(a) the magistrate must proceed by way of an examination 6
of witnesses for an indictable offence; and 7
(b) a plea of the person charged at the start of the 8
proceeding must be disregarded; and 9
(c) evidence brought in the proceeding before the 10
magistrate decided to act under subsection (2) is taken to 11
be evidence in the proceeding for the committal of the 12
person for trial or sentence; and 13
(d) before committing the person for trial or sentence, the 14
magistrate must make a statement to the person as 15
required by the Justices Act 1886, section 104(2)(b). 16
310 Limitation on who may summarily hear indictable offence 17
(1) A proceeding must be before a magistrate if it is a 18
proceeding-- 19
(a) for the summary conviction of a person on a charge for 20
an indictable offence; or 21
(b) for an examination of witnesses for a charge for an 22
indictable offence. 23
(2) However, if the proceeding is brought before a justice who is 24
not a magistrate, jurisdiction is limited to taking or making a 25
procedural action or order within the meaning of the Justices 26
of the Peace and Commissioners for Declarations Act 1991. 27
311 Limitation on time for starting summary proceeding 28
A proceeding for a summary offence against this Act by way 29
of summary proceeding under the Justices Act 1886 must 30
start-- 31
Page 180
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 15 General
[s 312]
(a) within 1 year after the commission of the offence; or 1
(b) within 1 year after the offence comes to the 2
complainant's knowledge, but within 2 years after the 3
commission of the offence. 4
312 Evidentiary provisions for proceedings under this Act 5
(1) This section applies to a proceeding under this Act. 6
(2) A signature purporting to be the signature of any of the 7
following persons is evidence of the signature it purports to 8
be-- 9
(a) the chief executive; 10
(b) an authorised officer for another State under section 42; 11
(c) another officer of a jurisdiction outside the State 12
corresponding to the chief executive; 13
(d) the responsible Minister under the Immigration 14
(Guardianship of Children) Act 1946 (Cwlth). 15
(3) A certificate purporting to be signed by the chief executive 16
stating any of the following matters is evidence of the 17
matter-- 18
(a) a stated document is a notice, authorisation or approval 19
given or decision made under this Act; 20
(b) a stated document is an extract from a register kept 21
under this Act; 22
(c) a stated document is a copy of a document mentioned in 23
paragraph (a) or (b); 24
(d) on a stated day, a stated person was given a stated notice 25
or approval under this Act; 26
(e) the identity of a child's father could not be ascertained 27
after stated reasonable inquiries; 28
(f) the location of a stated person could not be ascertained 29
after stated reasonable inquiries; 30
Page 181
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 15 General
[s 313]
(g) a stated entity is a recognised entity for consultation 1
about a matter relating to the adoption of a particular 2
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child; 3
(h) a stated individual is an appropriate Aboriginal or Torres 4
Strait Islander person in relation to a particular 5
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child; 6
(i) another matter prescribed under a regulation. 7
313 Proof of adoptions 8
(1) This section applies to a proceeding in a court in Queensland. 9
(2) A certificate purporting to be signed by a registrar of a court in 10
Queensland or elsewhere stating that a stated document is an 11
adoption order of the court, or a copy of or extract from an 12
adoption order of the court, is evidence of the matter. 13
(3) A certificate purporting to be signed by an appropriate officer 14
stating that a stated document is a copy of an entry in a 15
register relating to adoptions under a law of another 16
jurisdiction, or an extract from the register or statement of 17
information recorded in the register, is evidence of the matter. 18
(4) In this section-- 19
adoption order includes any court order relating to an 20
adoption. 21
appropriate officer, in relation to a register relating to 22
adoptions under a law of another jurisdiction, means an 23
officer in that jurisdiction with responsibility under the law for 24
keeping the register. 25
Division 2 Confidentiality 26
314 Confidentiality of information obtained by persons 27
involved in administration of Act 28
(1) This section applies to a person who-- 29
Page 182
Adoption Bill 2009
Part 15 General
[s 314]
(a) is, or has been, any of the following persons performing 1
functions under or relating to the administration of this 2
Act or the repealed Act-- 3
(i) a public service employee; 4
(ii) an adoption contract worker, counsellor or other 5
person engaged by the chief executive; 6
(iii) an approved carer; 7
(iv) an appropriate Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander 8
person; 9
(v) a recognised entity or member of a recognised 10
entity; 11
(vi) a person authorised to use information for research 12
under section 324; and 13
(b) in that capacity, acquired protected information about 14
another person or has access to, or custody of, protected 15
information about another person. 16
(2) The person must not use the information or disclose the 17
information to anyone else except to the extent the use or 18
disclosure is required or permitted under this Act or necessary 19
to perform the person's functions under or relating to this Act. 20
Maximum penalty--100 penalty un