Why isn’t it easier to adopt a child?

Every hour 1625 children are forced to live on the streets through the abuse or death of an adult. In terms of world population the number of orphans globally accounts for the tenth highest population in the world. While many Western countries have embraced intercountry adoption as a legitimate way of forming a family, in Australia it is cumbersome and slow with waiting periods of between four and ten years.

Today there are over 140 million children living without parents. In 2008, approximately 17,500 children found families in the USA through intercountry adoption. In that same year, only 270 children found families in Australia via intercountry adoption (a further 70 Australian-born children found families through domestic adoption).

The reality is that, at most, only 0.02% of the world’s children without families will have a chance of finding a family through international adoption and there will be many Australian families yearning for a child who will be unable to adopt from another country due to government or state legislation.

The international principles that govern intercountry adoption are set out in The Hague Convention which aims to protect children and their families against the risks of illegal, irregular, premature or ill-prepared adoptions abroad. It does this by establishing principles that focus on intercountry adoptions and ensuring that such adoptions only occur where it is in the best interests of the child and with respect for the child’s fundamental rights.

While Australia ratified this convention in 1998 it has been slow to advocate adoption as an option for the thousands of displaced children all over the world. In fact, in 2005 a Parliamentary inquiry into inter-country adoption showed that “Australia’s per capita rate of adoptions from overseas is less than one third the rate of most first world economies”. Adoptees also continue to be discriminated against in some of our immigration laws and policies and in some States with regard to access to information.

Lobby groups, such as Orphan Angels headed up by Deborra-Lee Furness are trying to lobby Government NOT to make adoption easier, but to make it more expedient, more transparent and more acceptable. It is well understood that there is necessary due diligence and education to ensure everyone is acting in the best interests of the children and these areas should never be glossed over nor neglected. There are however, areas in Australian legislation that appear discriminatory and irrelevant to the parenting skills or ability of prospective parents. There are also enormous time delays. Such barriers are not in the best interest of children who need families.