5 October 2016

A Canberra Liberals Government will make the necessary changes so it’s quicker and easier for Canberrans to adopt locally. Our plans will make the adoption process more streamlined, which is in the best interests of children and families, Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services Nicole Lawder said today.

“In some cases, families wishing to adopt in the ACT have had to deal with a process taking several years. It just isn’t good enough,” Ms Lawder said.

“Our commitments to speed up local adoption total $1.163 million and include:

• $150,000 for an independent review of the local adoption process in the ACT.
• More than $700,000 for additional caseworkers.
• More than $300,000 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander support workers.

“Through a review of blockages in the system, supporting vulnerable families, more case workers and better information sharing, our efforts will be focused on speeding up local adoption, when it’s in the best interests of the children or young people.

“We want there to be more opportunities to secure permanency of a relationship through adoption and will strive to get the best out of our system in the ACT,” Ms Lawder concluded.