ADOPTION ACT 1994 - SECT 39
ADOPTION ACT 1994 - SECT 39
39 . Who can apply under s. 38(1)
(1) A person may only
apply under section 38(1) if at the time of the application, he or she —
(a)
subject to subsection (2), is an Australian citizen; and
(b) is
18 or more years of age; and
(c) is
resident or domiciled in this State or, if applying to adopt a child in a
Convention country, is habitually resident in this State; and
(d) has
not been convicted of a Class 1 offence committed after he or she attained 18
years of age; and
(ea) if
married to another person —
(i)
applies as a joint applicant with that person; or
(ii)
has been separated from that person for at least 12
months and does not intend to resume cohabitation with that person;
and
(eb) is,
or in the previous 12 months has been, in a de facto relationship with another
person, applies as a joint applicant with that person; and
(e) if
applying as a joint applicant —
(i)
has been married to, or in a de facto relationship with,
the other applicant for at least 3 years; and
(ii)
is not married to, or in a de facto relationship with,
any other person.
(2A) Despite
subsection (1), a person who applied jointly with another person under
section 38(1) may, in accordance with the regulations, continue the
application in his or her own name if the joint applicants commence living
separately and apart.
(2) Two persons may
only apply jointly under section 38(1) if at the time of the application
—
(a) both
persons are Australian citizens; or
(b) one
of the persons is an Australian citizen and the other is a citizen of a
country that, in the opinion of the CEO, gives rights to adopted persons that
are not inferior to the rights of non-adopted persons in relation to entry
into, residence, education and medical care in that country.
(3) For the purposes
of subsection (1)(e)(i) if the joint applicants are married and before the
marriage were living as de facto partners, the period of living as de facto
partners may be included when calculating the period mentioned in subsection
(1)(e)(i).
[Section 39 amended: No. 7 of 1999 s. 10; No. 3 of
2002 s. 12; No. 8 of 2003 s. 23; No. 34 of 2004 Sch. 2 cl. 2(8); No. 15 of
2012 s. 26.]