Summary
Seven hundred and eighty-three adoption orders were made between 1July 1992 and 30 June 1993-a decrease of 26% from the previous year and a decrease of 92% since the peak in 1971-72.
The majority of adoptions (533, or 68%) were by non-relatives; adoptions by step-parents accounted for 236 (30%) and adoptions by other relatives 14 (2%).
Of the children adopted by non-relatives, 56% were aged under 1 year. The majority (68%) of children adopted by relatives were aged between 5 and 14 years.
Of children adopted by non-relatives, 43% were born overseas. Of these, 51% were girls.
The number of overseas-born children adopted by non-relatives has decreased by 46% since 1989-90 and by 33% since 1991-92.
The majority (85%) of adoptions of Australian-born children by non-relatives involved an ex-nuptial child (259 out of 306).
There were 259 ex-nuptial Australian-born children adopted by non-relatives in 1992-93, a decrease of 26% from the previous year and a. decrease of 51% from 1988-89.
The number of Australian-born children who were born nuptially and adopted by nonrelatives has declined from 80 in 1989-90 to 45 in 1992-93.
Five of the seven Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children adopted were placed with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
In 1992-93, 6,167 applications for adoption information were lodged. The great majority were lodged by adopted persons.