This law amended the *Adoption Act 2000* (NSW) to make further provision with respect to the adoption of children and access to adoption information, with changes taking effect from 1 January 2009.

Adoption Amendment Act 2008 (NSW)

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 

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

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

From 1987, laws and policies began to incorporate the Aboriginal Child Placement Principles (ACPPs), which aim to prioritise the placement of Aboriginal children with their extended family or kinship group, members of their Aboriginal community, or local Aboriginal families and involve Aboriginal families and organisations in decision-making about placement. However,...

The Aboriginal Children and Young Persons Principle and Child and Young Person Placement Principles 

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

Adoption Amendment Act 2008 (NSW)

Permanency planning

Adoption contact - open adoptions

Adoption and consent

The Aboriginal Children and Young Persons Principle and Child and Young Person Placement Principles

Prioritising adoption by Aboriginal families