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Adoption in Victoria

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare defines adoption as “The legal process by which a person legally becomes a child of the adoptive parent(s) and legally ceases to be a child of his/her existing parent(s)”. In Australia, each state or territory has its own adoption legislation and its own policies and processes. In the…

Stolen Generations

The Stolen Generations are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who, when they were children, were taken away from their families and communities as the result of past government policies. Children were removed by governments, churches and welfare bodies to be brought up in institutions, fostered out or adopted by white families. The removal of…

Law in the Northern Territory

Law in the Northern Territory (NT) needs to be understood in light of the history of the territory’s governance. From 1863 until 1911, the territory was known as the Northern Territory of South Australia, having been annexed to the Colony of South Australia by the British Government. The position of Government Resident was responsible for…

Adoption in the Northern Territory

Adoption is the legal transfer of guardianship of a child, relinquished by its natural parent(s), to another person. The first legislation to provide for legal adoption of children in the Northern Territory was the Adoption of Children Ordinance 1935 (Commonwealth). In 2019, adoption is governed by the Adoption Act 1994.

Aboriginal Protection in Western Australia

Aboriginal Protection is a term that was commonly used in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to describe the policies and laws that regulated the lives of Aboriginal people. From the 1880s Aboriginal people in Western Australia, including children, were controlled by specific Protection Acts. From the 1930s, the central aim of these Acts was to…

Adoption in Western Australia

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare defines adoption as “The legal process by which a person legally becomes a child of the adoptive parent(s) and legally ceases to be a child of his/her existing parent(s)”. In Australia, each state or territory has its own adoption legislation and its own policies and processes. In the…

Adoption in Tasmania

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare defines adoption as “The legal process by which a person legally becomes a child of the adoptive parent(s) and legally ceases to be a child of his/her existing parent(s)”. In Australia, each state or territory has its own adoption legislation and its own policies and processes. In the…

Adoption in South Australia

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare defines adoption as “The legal process by which a person legally becomes a child of the adoptive parent(s) and legally ceases to be a child of his/her existing parent(s)”. In Australia, each state or territory has its own adoption legislation and its own policies and processes. In the…

Adoption in Queensland

  The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare defines adoption as “The legal process by which a person legally becomes a child of the adoptive parent(s) and legally ceases to be a child of his/her existing parent(s)”. In Australia, each state or territory has its own adoption legislation and its own policies and processes. In…

Probation

Probation refers to children or young people being committed by the Children’s Court to a period of supervision by the child welfare department in their state or territory. In New South Wales, probation was introduced in 1905 as part of the Children’s Court system. It was a way of supervising children who had been charged…