Page 1942 - Week 07 - Thursday, 13 August 2020
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The feedback I received at that time from constituents in the foster care system and people looking to adopt was that they were concerned about delays in the local adoption process and the effects that these delays were having on their children. One of them said to me, “These delays impact on the children. It is not in their best interest and does not align with the government’s stated aims of getting children into secure, permanent homes and seeking adoption as quickly as appropriate.”
We all want what is in the best interest of the child. In some cases, an efficient local adoption process that prioritises permanency may well be what is in the best interest of the child or young person. So that also has to be prioritised. We do not want the system to fail vulnerable young children in the out of home care system. So where adoption is in the best interest of the child or young person it must be carried out and carried out as quickly as possible.
The adoption of a child is a significant moment in the life of the child, the adopted family and the birth family. For some families, adoption is the opportunity to create or complete a family. For some children it offers a long-term opportunity to be part of a loving family for life. But adoption can permanently change a child’s identity. The decision to progress with adoption is not a decision to be taken lightly and not one that should be taken without the full consideration of all parties involved and the understanding that the best interest of the child should be paramount.
I am pleased to see some steps in the bill that is before the Assembly today for the benefit of those families who have opened up their hearts and homes to take in a child through the out of home care system and then decided to progress with an adoption process. We must try also to reduce the stress on those families. That stress cannot be overestimated. There are court hearings, lawyers, psychologist appointments and interactions with government agencies. These are not things that your normal, average family goes through. The families who have opened up their hearts and homes to children deserve to be supported throughout the process.
It is quite some time since I brought motions to the Assembly, and, as a result, the cross-directorate taskforce was created. What we see today comes from that cross-directorate taskforce, so it is good that we are seeing progress. I commend the bill and I commend the amendment that Mrs Kikkert will move today to enshrine a review process in two years time. This will be important to see if and how the changes in the bill we have today are making a difference for adoptive families and for children, and ensuring that what occurs is in the best interest of the child, which is what we all care about. I thank Mrs Kikkert for her important amendment, which is something that we will have to consider in the future.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Children, Youth and Families and Minister for Health) (11.49), in reply: I thank Ms Le Couteur, Mrs Kikkert and Ms Lawder for their contributions to the debate today and for their support of the Adoption Amendment Bill 2020. The bill confirms the ACT government’s strong commitment to supporting children and families by ensuring that our approach to dispensing with parental consent for adoption puts the best interests of children and young people at the centre of decision-making.
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