Adoption Act 2000

An adoption plan is a plan agreed to by two or more of the parties to the adoption of a child that includes provisions relating to—

the making of arrangements for the exchange of information between the parties in relation to any one or more of the following—

the child’s medical background or condition,

the child’s development and important events in the child’s life,

the means and nature of contact between the parties and the child, and

any other matter relating to the adoption of the child.

Note.

Parties to an adoption is defined in the Dictionary. The Court is required to take an adoption plan into consideration in making an adoption order. See section 90 (2) and (3).

Without limiting the matters for which an adoption plan may make provision—

it may set out the ways in which the child is to be assisted to develop a healthy and positive cultural identity and for links with that heritage to be fostered, and

it may provide for the giving of certain financial and other assistance as referred to in section 201.

A birth parent who has not consented to the adoption of a child (a non-consenting birth parent) is, as far as possible, to be given the opportunity to participate in the development of, and agree to, an adoption plan in relation to the child.

A non-consenting birth parent who agrees to an adoption plan is, for the purposes of sections 47, 48, 50, 51 and 90, to be treated as if the non-consenting birth parent were a party to the adoption of the child.

An adoption plan for an Aboriginal child or Torres Strait Islander child to be adopted by persons of whom neither is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, as the case may be, must make provision of the kind referred to in subsection (2) (a).

If provisions of the kind referred to in subsection (2) (a) are proposed to be included in an adoption plan, those provisions should be made after consultation with a local, community-based and relevant Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander organisation.