The number of adoptions from overseas countries has reached a
10-year high, with 370 adoptions recorded in 2003-04 compared with
222 10 years ago, says a new report released today from the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The AIHW report, Adoptions Australia 2003-04, also
shows that the rise in overseas adoptions boosted overall adoption
numbers in Australia by 6% over the previous year to a total of 502
in 2003-04.
Report author Debbie Noble-Carr says that the main influence on
the rise in numbers has been a substantial increase in adoptions
from China, from 46 in 2002-03 to 112 in 2003-04.
Adoptions from China made up 30% of the total inter-country
adoptions.
'Adoptions from South Korea and Ethiopia have also increased
considerably over the last 10 years, while adoptions from Fiji and
Romania have now all but ceased,' Ms Noble-Carr said.
Adoptions of children born in Australia continued the general
downward trend of the last 30 years - the number of placement
adoptions fell to 73 (14% of total number adopted) in 2003-04,
while 'known' child adoptions - adoptions of a child to a relative
or known person to that child - fell by almost half to a record low
of 59.
'The cause of this decline,' says Ms Noble-Carr, 'can be
attributed to changes in community attitudes to issues surrounding
unplanned pregnancies and single parents, and legislative changes
introduced by state and territory departments around Australia over
the last two decades.'
'These legislative changes allow the transfer of permanent
guardianship and custody of a child to a person other than a parent
as a legal alternative to adoption.'
Almost half of all children adopted were under one year of age,
with a slight variation in age between overseas and locally placed
adoption.
Children adopted from overseas tended to be older, with only 41%
of children aged under one year, and a further 30% aged between 1
and 2 years of age.
'This may reflect the longer time it takes to adopt a child from
another country, compared to from within Australia, where 88% of
adopted children were under 1 year of age,' Ms Noble-Carr said.
For all placement adoptions, 82% of the adoptive mothers and 87%
of the adoptive fathers were aged 35 years and over, and most were
married, with over half of the children being adopted by people who
had no other children in their family.
Available figures also indicate that in Australia the majority
of birth mothers of children adopted in 2003-04 were under the age
of 30, and almost all were not married.
26 November 2004
Further information: Debbie Noble-Carr, AIHW,
tel. 02 6244 1081, mobile 0418 295 409
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 02 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of Adoptions Australia
2003-04, November 2004.