Adopting a child in Queensland
Adoption is a legal process to transfer the legal rights and responsibilities of parenting from a
child's birth parents to new (adoptive) parents. The child’s adoptive parents become the only
legal parents of the child.
In Queensland, all adoptions are organised through Adoption Services Queensland in the
Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services. This includes local and
overseas adoptions. Privately arranged adoptions are illegal in Queensland and penalties
apply if the law is breached.
An adoption order is made by the Children’s Court if the application and assessment
procedure is successful.
To adopt a child an applicant must enter their name on the expression of interest register
maintained by Adoption Services Queensland which is a list of people who wish their
suitability to be assessed.
The criteria for being placed on the register includes:

the application is made by a couple either de facto relationship or married;

the applicants must be adults;

at least one of the applicants must be an Australian citizen;

both applicants must be resident or domiciled in Queensland;

the female applicant is not pregnant;

the applicants are not undergoing fertility treatment and have not undergone fertility
treatment in the previous six months;

the applicants are not intended parents under an altruistic surrogacy arrangement;

if the applicants were intended parents under a surrogacy arrangement, the
surrogacy arrangement ended not less than six months earlier;

the applicants do not have custody of a child under one year of age or a child who
has been in their custody for less than one year;

the relationship of the applicants has been not less than two years; and

the relationship of the applicants is an opposite sex relationship.
Applicants on the register may be selected by Adoption Services Queensland to begin the
assessment process. If Adoption Services Queensland decides the applicants are ineligible
or unsuitable, reasons for the decision must be provided and the applicants may have the
decision reviewed by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).
It is not usual to formally adopt step children or relatives because parenting orders can
usually be made by the family courts to meet a child's needs without adoption.
A child’s step-parent, who is the married or de facto spouse of a parent of the child, may
apply to adopt a child if:
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
the person is an adult, resident in Queensland and an Australian citizen or the
spouse of a Australian citizen;

the person lives with the child and spouse and has done so for at least three years;

the person has been granted leave by the Family Court under the Family Law Act
1975 (Commonwealth) to commence adoption proceedings;

the child is at least five years old and not more than 17 years old. In some cases an
application may be accepted for a child who has turned 17, but is not yet 18.
An adoption application for a child who has turned 17 years of age may be accepted if
Adoption Services Queensland decides:

there is enough time to complete the adoption process before the child turns 18; and

there are proper grounds for making an adoption order.
Under the Adoption Act 2009 (Qld), a person can no longer apply to adopt a child who is
related to the applicant. However, if adoption by a relative is the best option for a child’s
long-term care, the department can ask a relative to consider being assessed as an adoptive
parent for the child. The relative cannot initiate the process.
The consent of a child’s parents or guardian must be obtained, or consent dispensed with,
before the Children's Court can make an adoption order for a child.
If a mother has sole responsibility for the child or the father’s identity is not known, the
department must take reasonable steps to locate the child’s father so he has the opportunity
to be heard about the child’s adoption. If a child is to be adopted by a step-parent, both of
the child’s parents must consent to the child’s adoption before the Children’s Court may
make an adoption order.
Under the Adoption Act 2009 (Qld), a parent or guardian’s consent is not needed if a court
dispenses with the need for consent. There are some situations where adoption is in a
child’s best interests and is allowed to proceed, despite consent not being obtained.
Once the adoption order is made, parental rights and responsibilities are transferred to the
adoptive parents and the natural parent no longer has any legal responsibility for the child
(including child support). The adoptive parents can change the child's name.
Once the adoption has been finalised, the Department of Communities, Child Safety and
Disability Services arranges for a copy of adoption order to be registered with the Registry
for Births, Deaths and Marriages and a new birth certificate is issued for the child. This new
certificate is in the child’s new name and includes the names of the child’s new parents.
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Level 4, 91 Upton Street, Bundall Gold Coast · PO Box 5193, GCMC Bundall 9726 Queensland Australia
P: +61 7 5597 3366 · F: +61 7 5597 3988 · E: [email protected] · W: www.belllegal.com.au