Adoption in Australia - is it expensive or difficult?

Question

I've heard that adoption is quite expensive, but I don't know if that's just the US or international adoptions.

Does anyone here know the qualifying criteria and cost of adopting a child in Australia? Also, I may consider overseas adoption, I just think it's out of my reach - I have a child already.

Answer 1

In Australia adoption requirements and costs vary from state to state and depends on whether you are adopting locally or internationally.

Local adoption: In most states local adoption incurs far fewer fees than inter-country adoption (ICA).  This is because the state government subsidises these fees.  The fees range from $0 -  a few $1000 depending on the state.  There are very few children available for local adoption in Australia.

ICA: Most states (but not all) operate on a cost retreval system for ICA so costs are usually considerably higher than for local adoption.  Depending on the state they can range from a few $1000 to $10,000+.  However, the country you adopt from will also have processing fees also ranging from a few $1000 to $10,000+ so the total costs can exceed $20,000.

Keep in mind that in addition to any state/country fees there are also additional expenses such as medical assesments and notories and immigration fees, airfares and accomodation (for ICA)

Generally speaking, the requirements for local adoption and ICA  are the same.  You need to be healthy (it is usually ok to have a medical condition as long as it is stable and being treated), you need to be able to care for the child financially (you don't have to be rich), you need to be emotionally and mentally stable, you need to be of good character and have no serious criminal convictions.  Some states also have requirements about marital status, age and other things.  In addition, ICA countries may have their own requirements including age, income, health and marital status.

You will be required to attend education sessions and have a homestudy done to assess your suitability to parent a child and the suitability of your home.  Both local adoption and ICA can take several years to complete the assesment and placement of a child.

The best way to find out information is to contact the Department of Human Services (or similar) in your state who will be able to provide you with more detailed information and to join the adoption support groups (such as FCC or ASIAC) who are a wealth of information.  Check out     http://www.asiac.org.au/links.html

Answer 2

It is both difficult and expensive.

Google Hugh Jackman and his wife Deborrah, they are trying to speak to the Prime Minister about it because of all the red tape and ******** here they have adopted both their kids out of the US and are trying to adopt another and they won't do it through Australia because the system makes it too hard.

Answer 3

Australia is no cheaper or easier.  I have friends who also live here in Australia and they adopted from China.  They are more than happy with that process.  They also had one child already, and would not have qualified for adoption here.  He is a surgeon - so it's not like money is an issue (I think it was more a "red-tape" issue).

Good luck!