VPRS 20784 Court of Petty Sessions, Adoption of Children Register, Boort

This series comprises the register of records of adoption cases heard at the Court of Petty Sessions at Boort Courts (VA 4315). See VPRS 20783 for the related adoption case files. Researchers should note that in some instances, adoption cases were lodged at one court and then later heard at another, usually at a larger regional court. Often, these cases were re-registered, but this practice does not appear to be consistent. Adoption in Victoria 1929 – 1958 The adoption of children was first regulated by legislation with the commencement of the Adoption of Children Act 1928 (Vic). This Act established adoption as a legal transfer of custody and parental responsibility and gave responsibility for making adoption orders to the courts. Prior to this time, adoptions were informal arrangements often made by private infants’ homes. Under the Act, an adoption application could be heard by the Supreme Court (VA 2549), County Court (VA 686), or Court of Petty Sessions. The choice of court depended upon the circumstances of the case and the wishes of the parties. Adoption cases could be heard at the Court of Petty Sessions closest to where either the applicant(s) or the child resided. The Court could grant an adoption order if several parties gave their written consent to the adoption, namely the child’s natural parent(s) or guardian(s); the person having custody of the child; any person liable to contribute to the support of the child; or where the applicant was married, the applicant’s spouse. If the consent of any of these persons could not be obtained in writing, a higher court had to be used. Should the applicant(s) (i.e., the prospective adoptive parent(s)) choose, the County Court could grant an adoption order in any circumstance. The Supreme Court could grant an adoption order in any circumstance. Adoption in Victoria 1958 - present The passing of the Adoption of Children Act 1958 (Vic) removed the jurisdiction of the Court of Petty Sessions to grant adoption orders. Since that time the County and Supreme Courts have had the power to grant adoption orders, although in practice most have been granted by the County Court. Cases involving interstate and international adoptions are generally handled by the Supreme Court. With the changes brought about by the Adoption of Children Act 1984 (Vic), the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) (VA 983) obtained the original court records, wherever possible, from the Courts to enable them to obtain sufficient information to prepare "birth certificates" containing more information for adopted persons. All records in custody of the courts as of 1 January 1989 therefore came under the management and control of BDM. BDM also provides adoption information to Adoption Information Services from these records. Any records created after that date are still the responsibility of the respective Court as BDM are only able to request a memorandum of the adoption order, rather than the complete file.  Contents Court districts commonly maintained a specific adoption register for cases held at Court of Petty Sessions, County Court, and Supreme Court respectively. However, registers were often shared between court districts or levels of court, particularly in remote regional areas. Between 1929 and 1958, Court of Petty Sessions and County Court cases were sometimes registered using the same system, likewise County Court and Supreme Court cases were also occasionally registered in sequence. Sometimes, a single volume was used or repurposed to register cases from different recordkeeping systems or case file sequences.  Adoption registers generally contain the following details: Case number Date of application Names, ages, and occupations of couples applying Name, sex, and age of child Names of other respondents (usually mother or both parents, or guardian) Minute of decision and remarks Cases were authenticated in the registers by the Stipendiary Magistrate or Police Magistrate for cases heard at the Court of Petty Sessions, or the presiding judge for cases heard at the County Court and Supreme Court. Adopted Children Register Under section 17 (1) of the Adoption of Children Act 1928 and the subsequent adoption acts, the Government Statist was required to establish and maintain an Adopted Children Register (VPRS 11683) in which entries were made as directed by adoption orders (VPRS 11682). All courts were required to inform the Office of the Government Statist and Actuary (VA 989) of adoption orders granted from 1929 to 1983, then BDM from 1983 onwards. Researchers should note that the Adopted Children Registration Number given in the central register (VPRS 11683) does not correspond to the case file number assigned by the court.

本系列涵盖博尔特法院（Boort Courts）治安法院（Court of Petty Sessions，VA 4315）审理的全部收养案件登记记录。相关收养案件卷宗可参考VPRS 20783。研究者需注意，部分收养案件可能先在某一法院提交，后续转至另一法院（通常为规模更大的区域法院）审理，此类案件往往会进行重新登记，但该操作并无统一规范。

维多利亚州1929年—1958年收养制度
儿童收养行为首次通过立法得以规范，源于1928年《儿童收养法（维多利亚州）》的施行。该法将收养确立为监护权与父母责任的合法转移，并赋予法院作出收养令的权责。在此之前，收养多为私人育婴机构主导的非正式安排。
根据该法，收养申请可由最高法院（Supreme Court，VA 2549）、县法院（County Court，VA 686）或治安法院审理，法院的选择取决于案件具体情况与当事人意愿。
治安法院可受理距离申请人或子女住所地最近的辖区内的收养案件。若满足以下多方书面同意，该法院可作出收养令：子女的生父母/监护人、实际照料子女者、有义务抚养子女者；若申请人为已婚人士，还需申请人配偶的书面同意。若无法取得上述任一主体的书面同意，则需交由上级法院审理。若申请人自愿，县法院可在任何情形下作出收养令，最高法院亦然。

维多利亚州1958年至今收养制度
1958年《儿童收养法（维多利亚州）》的通过取消了治安法院作出收养令的管辖权。此后仅县法院与最高法院拥有此项权力，实践中绝大多数收养令由县法院作出，跨州及国际收养案件通常由最高法院处理。
1984年《儿童收养法（维多利亚州）》的修订带来了新的变化：出生、死亡与婚姻登记局（Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages，BDM，VA 983）从各法院获取原始卷宗，以便为被收养人制备包含更多信息的"出生证明"。因此，1989年1月1日由法院保管的所有卷宗均交由BDM管理与管控。BDM还可通过这些卷宗向收养信息服务机构提供收养相关信息。1989年1月1日后产生的卷宗仍由对应法院保管，因BDM仅可申请获取收养令备忘录，而非完整卷宗。

卷宗内容
各法院辖区通常分别为治安法院、县法院、最高法院的收养案件建立专属登记册，但不同辖区或不同层级法院之间往往共享登记册，在偏远区域尤为如此。1929年至1958年间，治安法院与县法院的案件有时采用同一登记系统，县法院与最高法院的案件亦偶尔按序列统一登记。有时会使用单个卷宗或对其进行改造，以登记来自不同存档系统或案件序列的案件。
收养登记册通常包含以下信息：案件编号、申请日期、申请夫妇的姓名、年龄与职业、子女的姓名、性别与年龄、其他利害关系方姓名（通常为母亲、生父母双方或监护人）、裁决摘要与备注。
治安法院审理的案件需由专职治安法官（Stipendiary Magistrate）或警务治安法官（Police Magistrate）在登记册中签章确认，县法院与最高法院审理的案件则由主审法官签章确认。

被收养人登记册
根据1928年《儿童收养法》第17条第1款及后续收养法案，政府统计官需建立并维护被收养人登记册（Adopted Children Register，VPRS 11683），并按收养令（VPRS 11682）的要求进行登记。1929年至1983年间，所有法院均需将作出的收养令通报给政府统计与法务官办公室（Office of the Government Statist and Actuary，VA 989），1983年起则通报给BDM。研究者需注意：中央登记册（VPRS 11683）中的被收养人登记编号，与法院分配的案件卷宗编号并不对应。