National AdoptionsData Collection

Aggregate data collected annually by financial year, are provided by state and territory departments responsible for adoptions and by the Department of Home Affairs. Information collected relates to children placed for adoption and those who had an adoption order finalised. Some data are also collected on children whose adoption order was finalised during the previous financial year. Collected data include characteristics of adopted children, their parents and their adoptive families. Collected associated administrative process data include applications and vetoes for contact and information exchange, type of authority responsible for the adoption, type of consent provided for the adoption, median time for intercountry adoption processes, status of adoption orders at 30 June, and number of adoption specific visas issued. Data are published annually in the AIHW Adoptions Australia report series including online data visualisations, aggregate data tables, and in a topic summary for Australia’s welfare.Data relate to children placed with adoptive families during a financial year and those who had an adoption order finalised during a financial year. Additional data are also collected on adoption specific visas issued during a financial year (these data may relate to adoptions that occurred in previous years).