Page 1029 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 25 February 2009
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The government has begun the process of reviewing the ACT Adoption Act. That process began in 2006, with consultation on a discussion paper A better system for children without parents to care for them. The consultation process concluded with the publication of the Report on key findings from the review of the Adoption Act 1993. The review and consultation process identified that 17 separate sections of the 1993 Adoption Act needed to be changed. These changes are currently being drafted and I expect to table the amendments later this year. Although the amendments proposed by Mrs Dunne were not specifically commented on through the review and consultation process, the government sees no difficulty in accepting them.
Section 13 of the current act, which prohibits the adoption of any person who is, or has been, married, is inconsistent with the principle of section 6. All adoption matters in the ACT must always give paramount consideration to the child’s interest and welfare. This government is already in the process of addressing this and Mrs Dunne’s proposed amendment is consistent with the government’s position on this matter.
Amendment of section 10(b) will have the effect of removing the requirement for a court to be satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances to justify an adoption order for a person aged 18 years or over, while retaining the requirement that the court must be satisfied that the person is of good repute. The government accepts that adoption of people over 18 years is a private matter for which the Supreme Court will have discretion.
The government is pleased to support the amendments contained within the Adoption Amendment Bill 2008.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (5.12): Towards the end of last term and again this term, the Greens received letters on behalf of a family wishing to formalise a family relationship but finding themselves unable to do so because of provisions of the Adoption Act which this bill is seeking to amend. Given the direct and immediate impact these changes will have on this particular family, we are pleased to be debating these amendments today and thank Mrs Dunne for presenting the bill to the Assembly.
The explanatory statement for section 10 of the Adoption Act 1993 states that the section:
… requires that a report be presented to the court which evidences the good reputation of the applicants and that exceptional circumstances be established to enable an adoption of a person over the age of 18 years, such circumstances may include the person having been maintained in a parent/child relationship with the parents for most of their childhood and wishing to formalise this relationship.
Following these amendments, the only requirement will be that the applicants are of good repute.
The family situation I referred to is exactly the case contemplated by the explanatory statement. The Greens are happy to accept that, should an adult wish to be formally
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