Most children adopted into Australian families now come from
overseas, according to a report released today by the Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
'Adoptions from overseas have more than doubled over the last 25
years, and accounted for 71% of all adoptions in 2006-07, a
substantial increase from 6% in 1981-82,' said Nicole Hunter of the
AIHW's Children Youth and Families Unit.
The majority of children adopted from overseas come from Asian
countries - primarily from China (31% in 2006-07), South Korea
(20%) and the Philippines (11%).
There has also been a recent increase in number of children
adopted from African nations, particularly Ethiopia.
According to the report, Adoptions Australia 2006-07,
the total number of adoptions in Australia has remained relatively
constant in recent years-ranging between 450 and 600 children per
year.
The increase in intercountry adoptions corresponds with a fall
in the number of Australian children seeking adoption.
'A range of factors have contributed to this fall in adoptions
of Australian children , including more effective birth control,
family planning centres, and sex education classes, as well as
changing views on parenthood and child rearing,' Ms Hunter
said.
In 2006-07 there were 568 adoptions in Australia-405 were
intercountry adoptions, 59 were local and 104 were 'known' child
adoptions. Of the 'known' child adoptions, 79 were by step-parents
and 22 by carers.
For both local and intercountry adoptions, 92% of adopted
children were younger than 5 years old, while 71% of the children
adopted by carers, step-parents or other relatives were aged 10 or
over.
More girls than boys were adopted (58% compared to 42%).
Around half of the children in local and intercountry adoptions
were adopted into families with no other children, and three in
every five had adoptive parents aged 40 years and over.
One-quarter of the children in local adoptions had birth mothers
who were less than 20 years of age, but in general, birth mothers
tended to be older than in previous years, with an average age of
26.5 years.
Thursday 21 February 2008
Further information: Nicole Hunter, AIHW 02
6244 1062, mob. 0418 271 395.
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for the availability of Adoptions Australia
2006-07.