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Western Australia - Legislation

Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1980 (1981 - 1995)

  • Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1980

    Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1980, 9 December 1980, courtesy of State Law Publisher of Western Australia.
    Details

From
1981
To
1995
Categories
Amending Act
Website
https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/main_mrtitle_3602_homepage.html

The Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1980 (Act no. 85/1980) was passed on 9 December 1980 and commenced on 1 July 1981. The Act contained amendments that sought to address issues that arose with two increasingly common types of adoption: adoption of step-children (adopting a child 'into the marriage') and the adoption of children who had been born overseas (international adoptions).

Details

The provisions of the Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1980 provided that a child aged over 12 years would now be consulted about which surname she or he wanted to have - the surname of the 'adopting parent' or the 'original' surname. The court would follow the child's wishes, unless the Judge found that would not be in the child's best interests.

The amendments also gave the Director responsible for child welfare the ability to 'supervise the welfare and interests' of a child who had been adopted overseas (by parents who were not citizens of that country) for the first 12 months after they came to Australia.

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Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1980
Title
Adoption of Children Amendment Act 1980
Type
Document
Date
9 December 1980
Source
State Law Publisher of Western Australia

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: 'Western Australian Government Gazette No. 43', in Western Australian Government Gazette Online Archive, State Law Publisher of Western Australia, 26 June 1981, https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/prod/gazettestore.nsf/FileURL/gg1981_043.pdf/$FILE/Gg1981_043.pdf?OpenElement; Law Research Service, Melbourne Law School, Law Library, The University of Melbourne. 'Find and Connect Project - Western Australia Legislation', 13 December 2013, held in the project files at the University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre.

Prepared by: Debra Rosser