Page 687 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 23 March 1993
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Madam Speaker, among the issues in the legislation that were considered by the committee were the review of the director's decision, several aspects relating to the supervision of adopted children - clause 56 of the Bill - and the perplexing issue of adoptees who are not aware of their status. The committee came up with a total of six recommendations. Madam Speaker, the committee and several of the organisations who spoke to us felt uncomfortable with clause 17 of the Bill, which relates to the review of the director's decision not to approve an applicant for placement of an adoptive child. In an appeal against the director's decision, the current Bill allows for the director to convene a committee appointed by him or her. The committee feels that the process of appeal should be independent of the decision making process, and be seen to be so. Therefore, the Minister should be responsible for appointing and convening this committee, and no officials from the Housing and Community Services Bureau should be eligible to sit on such a committee. In this way, Madam Speaker, the applicants can feel secure in the knowledge that the decision of the director is receiving a totally independent review.
The clause of the Bill relating to the supervision of certain adopted children, clause 56, drew a great deal of attention from the opposition and independent members of the committee and from one organisation in particular which gave evidence at the inquiry. The current Bill allows for a supervision period of up to 12 months for children adopted from overseas. The reasons for this are obviously related to clause 6 of the Bill to which I have already referred. Evidence given to the committee indicated that, in practice, this supervision period also occurs in relation to local adoptions. The committee, however, felt that this supervision period should be extended to cover all adoptions and indicated as such in the legislation. I believe that this is a sensible recommendation and allows for appropriate support to be provided for all adoptive families and the children concerned. It was also decided by the committee that the word "support" rather than the word "supervision" would be more conducive to an agreeable atmosphere between the department and adoptive families.
During the supervision, or support, period the Bill allows for access to the child by welfare authorities at all reasonable times. The committee heard evidence that this was not satisfactory for all adoptive parents and so has recommended that visits are to be at a mutually agreeable time. However, if this process proves unsatisfactory, due to, for instance, the non-compliance of adoptive parents, the Minister may authorise a visit. Hopefully, this will negate any potential relationship problems between adoptive parents and welfare authorities and, for this reason, I support this recommendation. However, Madam Speaker, I wish to stress that this clause of the Bill does exist because of the need to ensure the welfare of the child, not the convenience of some adoptive parents. It has also been recommended by the committee that all fees, including those incurred during the 12-month visitation and support period, be imposed on adoptive parents at the beginning of the adoption process. This recommendation has been made because it was felt by the committee that the current provision in the Bill does not allow for adoptive parents to be aware of the expenses they may need to incur throughout the adoption process.
Madam Speaker, I have so far covered five of the six recommendations. All of these relate to the convenience of, or the expense incurred by, adoptive parents or to the appeal process which potential adoptive parents go through if their application is rejected. Madam Speaker, none of these recommendations relate directly to the rights, needs or welfare of the children themselves.
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