Please contact the Freedom of Information Team at the Department for Child Protection:
Phone: (08) 8226 4399
Postal address: GPO Box 1072, Adelaide SA 5001
Email: DCP.FOI@sa.gov.au
Website, Out-of-Home Care information: https://www.childprotection.sa.gov.au/research-and-publications/freedom-information/provision-information-care-leavers
Website, Adoptions information: https://www.childprotection.sa.gov.au/support-and-guidance/adoption-processes/applying-for-adoption-information
These records are held by State Records of South Australia (1919 - current).
State Records of South Australia hold a large quantity of records created by the various departments responsible for child welfare that contain information about adoptions in South Australia. These include Adoption files, adoption index cards, envelopes containing details of relinquishing parents, and a short register of children available for adoption. The records date from 1915 up to the current day, and include details about children who were placed for adoption, and their biological and adoptive parents
Access to these records is permanently restricted to protect personal privacy. People mentioned in these records have a right to access information about themselves. To request access to these records please contact the Department for Child Protection Freedom of Information Team.
Adoption files – State Children’s Department and successors, 1915-current (GRS/914)
These files are the main series of adoption records created by the Departments, and contain a variety of different types of records that contain personal information about adopted children and their adoptive parents. They include records from the Australian Aiding Children Adoption Agency Inc, which was involved in assisting South Australian and Northern Territory families with adopting children from overseas. Although the date range for these files begins in 1915, there are very few records pre-dating 1926 (the first full year the Adoption of Children Act was in force). This is a very large series, and is made up of over 1500 boxes of records.
Adoption envelopes – relinquishing parents sealed by the court at time of adoption, 1966-current (GRS/915)
These envelopes contain details about the biological parents of South Australian children who were placed for adoption, including the child’s original birth certificate. The envelopes were sealed by the Court, and can only be opened with an order from a judge of the Supreme Court. There are approximately 90 boxes of records in this series.
Microform adoption index cards – Department for Community Welfare and successors, 1977-2003 (GRS/10180)
These microformed index cards contain information about adopted children and adoptive parents. The types of information recorded on the cards varies from card to card. Cards about children generally include the child’s name, date and place of birth, religion, birth parents names, if they were born out of wedlock, date of adoption, court approving the adoption, adoptive parents names and other details about them, and the child’s new name. While the children’s cards contain information about their biological parents, they often only include the name of the mother. The cards may also include references to more detailed files kept about the children. Some cards contain information about foster or out-of-home care situations that the children were in prior to adoption.
Rough register of children available for adoption, 1938-1941 (GRS29/78)
This rough register is made up of three loose sheets of paper listing the names of children who were available for adoption between 1938 and 1941. The State Records of South Australia catalogue does not provide any more detail about this register.