The Adoption Act 1988 (Act No. 90/1988) was assented to on 1 December 1988 and commenced on 17 August 1989. Its long title is ‘An Act to provide for the adoption of children; to repeal the Adoption of Children Act, 1967; to amend the Children’s Protection and Young Offenders Act, 1979; and for other purposes’. It introduced the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle and recognised traditional Aboriginal marriages for the purpose of adoption.