Known child adoptions provide children with a clear legal position, status, and stability within the family arrangement. In some circumstances, the adoption may be finalised after the adoptee is legally considered an adult. The majority of known child adoptions are by step-parents adopting their partner’s children, or by long-term carers, such as foster parents, of children placed in their care.
Adoptions by relatives other than step-parents are less common, as states and territories have policies that promote the use of parental responsibility orders (e.g. permanent care and guardianship/custody orders) rather than adoption when a child is to be permanently cared for by another relative. Known child adoptions by people who are not carers or relatives, such as by commissioning (surrogate) parents, are uncommon in Australia.