This law amended the *Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998* (NSW) to make changes to care plans, care responsibility, care orders, out of home care, among other matters. 

Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment Act 2018 (NSW)

From the 1970s onward there was a shift in NSW to ‘open adoptions’. Open adoption allows continued contact between the child and their birth parents. Laws in this period relate to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, however, the issue of open/closed adoptions has a particular impact on Aboriginal children, due...

Adoption contact - open adoptions

Since 1969, Aboriginal children have been governed by the same child welfare laws as other children in NSW. These laws allow for appeals against child removal orders. This period has also seen a growing recognition of the importance of Alternative Dispute Resolution processes. 

Families' rights following child removal 

Changes in law and policy since 1987 have increasingly recognised the importance of family contact for Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their homes and placed into state care.

Facilitating family contact

Adoption of children was regulated from 1923, when the Child Welfare Act 1923 (NSW) was introduced. Since this time, the law has said that a parent or guardian must consent to their child being adopted. However, the Court can order adoption without consent in various circumstances.  

Adoption and consent

Permanency planning is the making of a plan that aims to provide a child with a stable and secure long-term placement following removal  from their family. The principles of permanency planning first emerged in the 1970s in the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

Permanency planning 

This period has seen an increasing focus on consultation with Aboriginal families however alongside this laws and policies that facilitate adoption by foster carers have been criticised by many commentators.

Contemporary adoption of Aboriginal children

Developments in law and policy have seen a shift from Aboriginal children primarily being adopted by non-Aboriginal families, towards permanently placing Aboriginal children with Aboriginal families. However, this attempt to preserve and promote cultural and familial identity in children needing care has not been as effective in practice as intended.  

Document

Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment Act 2018 (NSW)

Adoption contact - open adoptions

Families' rights following child removal

Facilitating family contact

Adoption and consent

Permanency planning

Contemporary adoption of Aboriginal children

Prioritising adoption by Aboriginal families

Families' rights following child removal