Number of Adoptions slump to there lowest ever

It comes as no surprise that Australia's local adoption numbers are at an all time low. This can be viewed both as a positive and negative. A positive outcome that mothers are keeping their babies or choosing to have family members adopt them, and obviously negative that perhaps there is just not enough education for those looking for options when they find themselves in a position where they can't or don't want to keep their babies. There is a definate negative to say the least with regard to the decrease in inter-country adoptions, and area that needs such an overhaul and review - a job for our Government to get off their back-sides, take immediate action and make this a priority. Read below an extract from The Australian.

ADOPTION continues to fall out of favour in Australia, with just 384 recorded in 2010-11 -- the lowest on record.
The decline is a result of changing conditions in countries that previously provided inter-country adoptions, such as South Korea, along with a fall in the number of local children considered in need of adoption, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has found.
In a report titled Adoptions Australia 2010-11, released yesterday, the AIHW noted that more than half the adoptions in the year were from overseas, and most of the local adoptions were of known children, where there was a pre-existing relationship with a step-parent or carer.


Just 49 Australian-born children outside the known category were adopted in the 2010-11 year, the institute found.
The 384 adoptions were down 7 per cent on the previous year, and from 1142 in 1990-91, showing significant long-term decline, the report says. ...Inter-country adoptions have fluctuated since the early 1990s, but are down 45 per cent since 1990-91 and have recorded their sixth straight year of decline.
"The long-term fall in numbers can in part be attributed to a decline in the number of Australian children considered to require adoption," said AIHW spokesman Brent Diverty.
This reflected legislative and social changes that meant children were less likely to be taken from their parents, he said.
The adoption picture was more fractured for inter-country adoptions. Asia accounted for about 80 per cent of adoptions from overseas, the three most common countries being China, The Philippines and Taiwan.
"For the first time in more than two decades, South Korea was not among the four most common countries of origin," the report says.
by: Stephen Lunn, social affairs writer From:
The Australian December 14, 2011