Access and Information Provisions
Many people who are adopted have a desire to know about and perhaps meet
their birth parents. Often they feel that only by knowing about their original
family can they fully understand themselves and their lives.
The law recognises that adopted persons have the right to know their origins
and identity, and therefore provides for adult adopted persons to have access to
their original birth record and other records associated with the adoption.
Many birth parents have a deeply felt desire to know how the arrangements
they made for their child's future turned out, and what sort of adult the child
has become. Often birth parents simply need to know that the child is still
living and has had a good family life.
At times many adoptive parents feel the need to know something of their
child's background and first family origins, to help them in their task as
parents.
The law provides for an Adoption Information Service and an Adoption
Information Register
The Register and the Information Service are intended to help all persons
involved in an adoption, adopted persons, birth parents, adoptive parents, and
natural relatives to obtain and exchange information about each other and to
arrange to meet if they wish to do so.
The law also recognises that all people concerned have the right to privacy
and to have their lives protected from intrusion. The Information Register
allows all people affected by adoption to register their wishes about contact
and exchange of information. This may include a veto against contact.
Counselling Interview
All persons seeking information who are residents of Tasmania are required to
attend an interview with a counsellor before receiving information of any kind.
The purpose of counselling is to explain your rights, to make sure you fully
understand the rights of others, and to help you consider some of the matters
that may arise in search and reunion. There is no fee for counselling.
Adopted People
As an Adopted Person:
On reaching the age of eighteen (18) years you are
entitled to:
- A Certificate allowing access to your original birth record. This is
referred to as your Section 80 Certificate.
- Any information that may be held on the record of your adoption, including
the name of your birth mother and possibly the name of your birth father if
recorded.
If a Contact Veto has been registered, you will be required to sign, before
being given the information, an Undertaking not to contact the person.
You may register your wishes about:
- Exchange of non-identifying information
- Exchange of identifying information
- Contact with your birth parents or relatives
- Veto on contact.
If you are not yet eighteen years old, the written agreement of your adoptive
parents is needed before any information can be given to you.
Information which could identify your birth parents, and access to your
original birth record cannot be given to you unless we can obtain the written
agreement of the birth parent or parents who consented to your adoption.
You may ask for the Adoption Information Service to seek this written
agreement.
Adoptive Parents
As an Adoptive Parent:
You can register your wishes about:
- Exchange of non-identifying information
- Exchange of identifying information
- Contact with the birth parents of your adopted child (if he or she is under
eighteen years old)
- Your adopted child's contact with his or her birth parents (if he or she is
under eighteen years old).
You may register your wish not to be contacted.
Birth Parents and Other Birth Relatives
Birth parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, siblings, or lineal descendants
may register.
You are entitled to:
- Information held on the adoption record about yourself and the adopted
person. This will include the adoptive name of your relative. If a contact veto
is in place, you will be required to sign an Undertaking not to contact the
person.
If your relative is not yet eighteen years old, the written agreement of all
parents is needed before any identifying information can be given to you. You
may ask for the Adoption Information Service to seek this written agreement.
Contact Veto
All parties may register a veto on contact. Your identifying information will
only be given out if the person requesting the information signs a legally
binding Undertaking not to contact you in any way. You may like to leave a
message with the veto, e.g. family medical history, whether you are happy,
married, have children and so on. You must include your address with a request
to register a Contact Veto.
A Veto will not be recorded unless your name, date of birth and address are
provided. Your address will remain confidential.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- What is the Adoption Information Register?
The Register is a list
of names and addresses of people affected by adoption, with details of their
wishes about exchange or disclosure of information and contact. Entries may be
altered or cancelled whenever you wish.
- Should I register if I do not want contact?
YES. Your wish can
then be passed on to any relative who applies for information. A contact veto is
legally binding.
- Do you assist in search and contact?
Yes, when requested and
subject to any wishes recorded by another person. You may carry out your own
search if you wish.
- How will I be contacted if any agency is approached by someone looking
for information or contact?
With discretion and regard for your rights
to privacy. Normally this will be by a letter to you at the most recent address
on the Electoral Roll.
- What happens if the person whose agreement is needed has died?
Evidence of that person's death, eg: a copy of the death certificate,
will be needed to allow the release of information.
- What kinds of enquiry are given priority?
Priority will be given
to requests from adopted persons aged over 45 years, birth parents over 60
years, and in circumstances where medical conditions justify urgency.