If you decide to apply to adopt a child, there are necessary steps to go through.
How long might it take
The process from initial enquiry to approval as a suitable applicant presently can take up to twenty four months. Adoption Service has recently recruited more adoption assessors, so it is hoped that these times will reduce this year.
The time from approval to the placement of a child varies depending on which country you wish to adopt from and may take one to two years, often longer. There is never a guarantee that a child will be placed with you.
Staff from the Department for Community Development’s Adoption Service can help you discuss any queries you may have.
Step one - Enquiry
Step two - Attending the education seminars
Step three - The formal application to adopt, followed by assessment and approval
Step four - Once approved to adopt a suitable match with a child may be found
Step five - Placing the child with the adoptive parents and proceeding to apply for the Adoption Order from the Family Court
Step six - Application for Adoption Order
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The Adoption Service provides information on the application process and eligibility.
For more information see:
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If you wish to apply to adopt you must attend education seminars on adoption.
The first education session is a general one that will inform you and help to answer questions you may have. There is no charge for this session which is held in East Perth on a weekday afternoon. Country applicants can be catered for by way of a tele-presentation. As there is only a certain number who can attend at any one information session, currently there is a waiting list for attendance.
Please contact the Adoption Service on 9222 2970 to register for attendance at the information seminar. Prior to attending, you will be sent an information pack which gives additional information to that contained within these web pages.
After attending the information seminar you will then be required to attend two or three day-long education seminars. Adoption is very complex and the seminars will give you a basic understanding of adoption. They will also help you decide if you feel able to provide for the special care of a child who is in need of an adoptive family.
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The Expression of Interest
Once you have attended the seminars and wish to proceed you then lodge an Expression of Interest. The Expression of Interest application form needs to be sent to Adoption Service no later that 12 weeks after the last seminar that you attended.
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The Department will write to you inviting you to continue to the assessment stage.
You will need to provide information about yourself to assist in the assessment process. This includes information about your health, personal and family situation, finances, referees and a police check. This step involves lots of form filling and Adoption Service will help you.
Adoption Service will then invite you to an assessment seminar, which provides information about the next step, which is the formal assessment of your application.
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An assessor will be allocated to work with you. This person will meet you in your home a number of times over a couple of months to conduct the assessment. Assessors are either social workers or psycholgists and in the main, are contract workers.
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What sort of things will be covered in the assessment
Adoptive parenthood is different from parenting your own birth child. Accordingly, in the assessment process there are a number of competencies which you will need to demonstrate that you can meet. To assess whether you are suitable for adoptive parenthood, the assessor will discuss with you a range of issues. These will include such things as your family background, what you know about caring about children, how you feel about contact with the birth parents etc.
Adoptive parents are not expected to be perfect parents or have trouble free lives - it is the way you have coped and dealt with your life experiences that is important.
During the assessment process you will need to demonstrate that you understand the needs of adopted children and that you have the ability to meet these needs.
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Your assessor prepares a report and makes recommendations to the Adoption Applications Committee. This committee has both independent and Departmental members and considers your competencies and suitability to adopt. You are given the opportunity to read the report before it is submitted. The Adoption Applications Committee will advise you if you are approved or otherwise as sometimes they require further information. If you are not happy with the decision, there are review and appeal options available.
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It’s important to remember that adoption is about finding the most suitable family for a child in need of a new family. If you are approved to adopt, this match takes time and there is no guarantee that a child will be placed with you.
If you want to adopt a local child, you complete an adoptive parent profile to assist the child’s birth parents choose the adoptive parents. Adoption Service will assist you prepare the profile. The birth parents consider a number of profiles and chose the new family for their child.
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Adopting from overseas
If you want to adopt a child from overseas, the Adoption Service will help you prepare a ‘homestudy’ file. This is a package of information which is sent to the overseas country you have chosen. It includes documents such as your marriage certificate, medical records and your assessment report.
The overseas adoption authority will consider your homestudy and check that you meet their criteria. There are many more people seeking to adopt children than there are legally adoptable children. The time taken by the overseas country to match a child with an adoptive parent varies considerably.
For more information see:
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If you have been offered an adoptive child the Adoption Service will contact you to talk about whether you would accept having the child placed in your care.
If you accept , staff from the Adoption Service will supervise and support the placement for at least the first six months. This is to ensure that things are going well for both the child, you and your family.
You will be dealing with new issues and challenges in your family. You may feel stressed (and excited). The Adoption Service can give you support and advice and recommend other services that can be helpful. For more information see: Getting ready for your adoptive child
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Once the supervision period is finished, the Adoption Service will prepare a report for the Family Court of Western Australia. The report recommends whether an Adoption Order should be granted.
This order, granted by a judge of the Family Court, makes the adoption legal.
Some overseas countries arrange the Adoption Order before the adoptive parents return to Australia with their child.
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