Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Adoption Act 1984 - SECT 33

Consents required to adoptions

33. Consents required to adoptions



(1) Subject to this Division, the Court shall not make an order for the
adoption of a child unless the Court is satisfied-

   (a)  that-

   (i)  consent (not being a consent that has been revoked) to the adoption
        has been given in accordance with this Division by the appropriate
        person or persons ascertained in accordance with this section; and

   (ii) the requirements of section 35 were complied with; or

   (b)  that there is not an appropriate person within the meaning of this
        section to give consent to the adoption.

(2) In the case of a child whose parents were married to each other at the
time of its birth or at or after the time of its conception but before its
birth and who has not previously been adopted, the appropriate persons are
every person who is the mother or the father of the child.

(3) In the case of a child whose parents were not so married to each other and
who has not previously been adopted, the appropriate persons are every person
who is the mother of the child or a man-

   (a)  whose name is entered in the entry relating to the child in a register
        of births (whether in Victoria or in a place outside Victoria) as the
        father of the child;





   (b)  who is declared to be the father of the child under a declaration of
        paternity in force under section 10 of the
        Status of Children Act 1974, being a declaration a copy of which is
        filed under section 9(3) of that Act in the office of the Registrar;

   (c)  against whom an order has been made under section 10 or 12 of the
        Maintenance Act 1965 in respect of the child, being an order a copy of
        which is filed in the office of the Registrar under section 9(3) of
        the Status of Children Act 1974;

   (d)  who is named in an instrument filed in the office of the Registrar
        under section 9(1) of the Status of Children Act 1974 that
        acknowledges that he is the father of the child; or

   (e)  who has lodged with the Secretary or with the approved agency by which
        the arrangements for the adoption are being made evidence that-

   (i)  an order has been made outside Victoria that, under section 8(5) of
        the Status of Children Act 1974 is prima facie evidence that he is the
        father of the child;

   (ii) he is, or has at any time, been liable, under an order of the Family
        Court of Australia for the maintenance of the child; or

   (iii) he has at any time, under an order of the Family Court of Australia,
        been granted access to or custody or guardianship of the child.



(4) Where there is evidence that a man is not the father of a child, that man
is not, by reason only of paragraph (e) of subsection (3), an appropriate
person for the purposes of that subsection in the case of that child.

(5) In the case of a child who has previously been adopted, the appropriate
persons are every person who is an adoptive parent of the child.

(6) In the case of a child who is a non-citizen child, the appropriate person
is the person who, under the Immigration (Guardianship of Children) Act 1946
of the Commonwealth as amended and in force for the time being, is the
guardian of the child or, where that guardian has under that Act, delegated
his powers and functions as guardian to another person, that other person.

(7) This section does not apply in the case of a child who has attained the
age of eighteen years before the making of the adoption order.