Adoption Act 2009

This section applies to an adoption in a non-convention country if—

the adoption was effective according to the law of that country; and

at the time at which the legal steps that resulted in the adoption were commenced, the adoptive parent, or each of the adoptive parents, was resident or domiciled in that country and had been resident or domiciled in that country for at least 1 year; and

in consequence of the adoption, the adoptive parent or adoptive parents had, or would (if the adopted person had been a young child) have had, immediately following the adoption, according to the law of that country, a right superior to that of any biological parent of the adopted person in respect of the custody of the adopted person; and

under the law of that country the adoptive parent or adoptive parents were, by the adoption, placed generally in relation to the adopted person in the position of a parent or parents; and

the adoption has not been rescinded under the law of that country.

For the purposes of the laws of Queensland, the adoption has the same effect as an adoption order under this Act.

If an issue relating to an adoption in a non-convention country arises in a proceeding before a court, it must be presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the adoption is one to which this section applies.

However, a court may refuse to recognise an adoption as being an adoption to which this section applies if it appears to the court that the procedure followed or the law applied in connection with the adoption involved a denial of natural justice or did not comply with the requirements of substantial justice.

A document purporting to be the original or a certified copy of an order or record of adoption made by a court or a judicial or public authority in a non-convention country is, in the absence of proof to the contrary, sufficient evidence—

that the adoption was made in that country and is effective under the law of that country; and

that the adoption has not been rescinded.

Except as provided in this section, the adoption of a person in a non-convention country does not have effect for the purposes of the laws of Queensland.

Nothing in this section affects any right that was acquired by, or became vested in, a person before the commencement of the repealed Act.