Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to highlight a report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Community Services inquiry into the adoption of overseas children, which highlights some systematic problems in all states and territories that Australian couples are having when adopting children from overseas. It is not my normal practice to read all the reports that come out—unfortunately we do not have the time for that—and I did not sit on this particular inquiry, but the report was recommended to me and I am very glad that I did take the time to read it. I would urge other members in this place to do so also. It is a very timely piece of work. The chair of the inquiry, the member for Mackellar, has highlighted a general lack of support for adoption both local and intercountry in most of the state and territory welfare departments which are responsible for processing all adoption applications.

The chair added the lack of support ranged from indifference to hostility, which is further compounded by state and territory intercountry adoption units being generally underresourced. Ultimately this sad state of affairs has led to very lengthy processing periods and exhaustive queues for those people who wish to adopt children internationally. It is unfortunate to have to say that this state of affairs is of no great surprise. Historically, adoption became unfashionable in the fifties and the sixties, and it was subsequently frowned upon from a policy perspective. This has led to adoption practices in states and territories that are unsympathetic at best and obstructionist at worst.

It was argued at the time that the biological link between a parent and a child should be maintained irrespective of the circumstances. This overwhelming ethos resulted in children being preferentially placed in foster care over adoption when the child-parent biological relationship became untenable, as sadly it sometimes does. This also does not take into account the fact that, sadly to say, in some cultures some children are just not wanted by their biological parents. This often occurs in cultures that are particularly disdainful of single mothers.

When reading this report, I found it pretty concerning to note that many parents were apprehensive about giving evidence to the committee. They feared that, if they did give evidence to the committee that was critical of the department in their state or territory, this would prejudice their application for adoption. For these potential adopting parents to be so concerned about the negative consequences of talking to a parliamentary committee shows that the system that they use to try to adopt a child not only is severely flawed but also is so adversarial that they would be concerned about the consequences of talking about their state or territory department.

I will not go through all of the recommendations of the committee, because time prevents me. However, I would like to highlight a couple. Recommendation 3 proposes that, in renegotiating the Commonwealth-state agreement, the Commonwealth ensures a greater harmonisation of laws, fees and assessment practices. This harmonisation should be done in consultation with key stakeholders, such as adoption support groups and adopted children and their adoptive parents. I cannot stress how important that is. It is very important that the government consult the key stakeholders, and they are the people who have actually been through this system—the parents and the adopted children.

Recommendation 12 calls on the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs to amend the Australian Citizenship Act so that children that are either adopted or born overseas to Australian citizens are granted rights equivalent to those born in this country to their natural parents. Mr Speaker, I think you can see why that would be vitally important. I do not believe that adopted children are loved any less by their parents, and they should be granted the same citizenship rights as natural born children.

I am about to run out of time. I think this is a very important report. I hope that members take the time to read it and that the state and territory governments take the time to have a look at its findings and create a system for people who are seeking to adopt babies from overseas that is far more conducive to doing so. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.