Overview

Adoption is one of the options used to provide permanent care for children who are unable to live with their families. The adoption process establishes a permanent, legal parent–child relationship between a child and their adoptive parent(s).

More reports and statistics on adoption can be found under Child protection and Children & youth.

Latest findings

‘Known child’ adoption—where the child is already known to the adoptive parent(s)—increased over the decade (124 to 249) Intercountry adoptions have steadily declined since 2004–05, with 2019–20 marking the 15th consecutive year of decline Almost all (98%) local adoptees and 67% of intercountry adoptees were aged <5, compared with 22% of known child adoptees The main country of origin for intercountry adoptions varied between Philippines, Taiwan, and South Korea 12 Indigenous children were adopted in 2019–20, and 126 Indigenous children have been adopted since 1995–96 The median waiting time for families adopting from overseas was 2 years and 9 months 334 adoptions were finalised in 2019–20—a rise of 20% since 2015–16, but an overall decline of 50% since 1995–96 Of the 249 known child adoptions finalised in Australia, 171 or 69% were by carers, such as foster parents Overall adoption numbers declined 50% over the past 25 years—from 668 in 1995–96 to 334 in 2019–20 The majority (97%) of overseas adoptees were from Asian countries, and the most common country was Taiwan (43%)

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Highlights

Main country of origin From 2011–12 to 2019–20, the main country of origin for intercountry adoptions varied between the Philippines, Taiwan, and South Korea.
Overall adoption numbers declined 50% over the past 25 years—from 668 in 1995–96 to 334 in 2019–20.
Median waiting time for families adopting from overseas has been less than 3 years since 2016–17.
Intercountry adoptions have steadily declined since 2004–05, with 2019–20 marking the 15th consecutive year of decline.
Indigenous children Of the 126 Indigenous Australian children adopted over the past 25 years, 39% involved adoptive parents who identified as Indigenous Australians.
Finalised adoptions There were 334 finalised adoptions in Australia in 2019–20—comprising 37 intercountry adoptions and 297 Australian child adoptions.
‘Known child’ adoption where the child is already known to the adoptive parent(s)—increased over the past decade from 124 in 2010–11 to 249 in 2019–20.