Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Adoption Act 1984 - SECT 67

Recognition of foreign adoptions

67. Recognition of foreign adoptions



(1) For the purposes of the laws of Victoria, the adoption of a person
(whether before or after the commencement of this Act) in a country, other
than New Zealand, outside the Commonwealth and the Territories, being an
adoption to which this section applies, has, so long as it has not been
rescinded under the law of that country, the same effect as an adoption order
under this Act.

(2) This section applies to an adoption in a country if-

   (a)  the adoption was effective according to the law of that country;

   (aa) either-

   (i)  that country was the usual place of abode of the adoptive parent or
        parents for a continuous period of at least twelve months immediately
        before the commencement of the legal proceedings which resulted in the
        adoption; or

   (ii) the Secretary or the principal officer of an approved agency has,
        before the adoption in that other country, agreed to the placement of
        that child with that proposed adoptive parent or those proposed
        adoptive parents and the child is placed in accordance with the
        conditions of approval of the proposed adoptive parent or parents;

   (b)  in consequence of the adoption, the adoptive parent or adoptive
        parents had, or would (if the adopted person had been a young child)
        have had, immediately following the adoption, according to the law of
        that country, a right superior to that of any natural parent of the
        adopted person in respect of the custody of the adopted person; and

   (c)  under the law of that country the adoptive parent or adoptive parents
        were, by the adoption, placed generally in relation to the adopted
        person in the position of a parent or parents.

(3) The Governor in Council may by proclamation published in the Government
Gazette declare that all or any adoptions under the law of a particular
country, other than New Zealand, outside the Commonwealth and the Territories
shall be conclusively presumed to comply with the conditions specified in
paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (2).

(4) The Governor in Council may by the like proclamation revoke or vary any
proclamation made under subsection (3).

(5) The production of a document purporting to be the original or a certified
copy of an order or record of adoption made by a court or a judicial or public
authority in any country, other than New Zealand, outside the Commonwealth and
the Territories shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be sufficient
evidence-

   (a)  that the adoption was made in that country and is effective according
        to the law of that country; and

   (b)  that the adoption has not been rescinded.

(6) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, a Court
(including a Court dealing with an application under section 69) may refuse to
recognize an adoption as being an adoption to which this section applies if it
appears to the Court that the procedure followed, or the law applied, in
connexion with the adoption involved a denial of natural justice or did not
comply with the requirements of substantial justice.

(7) Where, in any proceedings before a Court (including proceedings under
section 69), the question arises whether an adoption is one to which this
section applies, it shall be presumed, unless the contrary appears from the
evidence, that the adoption complies with the requirements of subsection (2)
and has not been rescinded.

(8) Except as provided in this section, the adoption of a person (whether
before or after the commencement of this Act) in a country, other than New
Zealand, outside the Commonwealth and the Territories does not have effect for
the purposes of the laws of Victoria.

(9) Nothing in this section affects any right that was acquired by, or became
vested in, a person before the commencement of the Adoption of Children Act
1964.