Adoption Act 2009

The chief executive must decide if the person or any member of the person’s household would pose an unacceptable risk of harming a child adopted by the person.

The chief executive must consider, in particular, any personal history of the person or of an adult member of the person’s household.

The chief executive must decide there is an unacceptable risk for subsection (1) if the person or an adult member of the person’s household—

has been convicted of a disqualifying offence; or

is subject to—

reporting obligations under the Child Protection (Offender Reporting and Offender Prohibition Order) Act 2004; or

an offender prohibition order; or

a disqualification order; or

has been convicted of a serious offence.

Subsection (3)(c) does not apply if the chief executive is satisfied it is an exceptional case in which it would not harm the best interests of a child to be adopted by the person.

Subject to subsection (3), if the chief executive is aware that the person or a member of the person’s household has been convicted of, or charged with, an offence, the chief executive must have regard to the following—

in relation to the commission, or alleged commission, of an offence by the person or household member—

whether it is a conviction or a charge; and

whether the offence is a serious offence and, if it is, whether it is a disqualifying offence; and

when the offence was committed or is alleged to have been committed; and

the nature of the offence and its relevance to adopting children; and

in the case of a conviction—the penalty imposed by the court and if it decided not to impose an imprisonment order for the offence, or decided not to make a disqualification order, the court’s reasons for its decision;

anything else relating to the commission, or alleged commission, of the offence that the chief executive reasonably considers to be relevant to the assessment of the risk mentioned in subsection (1).

If the chief executive is aware of investigative information about the person or a member of the person’s household, the chief executive must have regard to the following—

when the acts or omissions constituting the alleged offence to which the investigative information relates were committed;

anything else relating to the commission of the acts or omissions that the chief executive reasonably considers relevant to the assessment of the risk mentioned in subsection (1).