The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) says there are hopeful signs of streamlining pathways for adoption and foster care in Queensland.
ACL State Director Rob Norman and Assistant Director Daniel Adsett recently met with the office of the Queensland Minister for Families to discuss reform of the Adoption Act and the urgent need to remove red tape from Queensland’s adoption system.
They welcomed the Government’s indication that public consultations will be held to streamline processes for children in foster care.
LESS THAN 10 ADOPTIONS A YEAR IN QUEENSLAND
In the early 1970s, Queensland recorded around 1,900 local adoptions each year.
In 2023–24, there were fewer than ten domestic adoptions, despite more than 12,700 children living in out-of-home care.
At the same time, recorded abortions in Queensland have risen sharply.
They leapt from an estimated 16,350 in 2018 to more than 25,800 in 2019, with estimates remaining around 26,000-plus in recent years.
AT LEAST 126 VIABLE BABIES TERMINATED IN 2024
Recent data obtained by the ACL through a Right-to-Information request shows that 126 babies at 20 weeks’ gestation and over were terminated in Queensland due to a recorded “maternal circumstantial indication” in 2024.
The ACL said these were viable babies whose pregnancies were not ended because of a fetal congenital anomaly or medical emergency.
It added they represent 126 children who may otherwise have had the opportunity to be placed with loving adoptive families, if voluntary adoption pathways for women experiencing crisis pregnancies were more accessible.
“THESE FIGURES SHOW THE NEED TO EXTEND REFORM TO VOLUNTARY ADOPTIONS”
The ACL writes: “These figures should trouble every Queenslander and indicate the need to extend adoption reform to voluntary adoptions.”
“Children in care deserve permanence, stability, and belonging, and women facing an unplanned pregnancy deserve real choices, including the option to place their child with a loving family.”
“We are calling for shorter waiting periods, clearer assessment time-frames, better foster-to-adoption pathways, better voluntary adoption pathways and greater support for birth parents.”
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