VPRS 11846 Supreme Court, Adoption Case Files

Full description

This series comprises records of cases brought to the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne under the Adoption Act 1928 and subsequent acts. These case files generally involve complex adoption cases, disputes relating to adoption matters such as the revocation of consent or the discharge of adoption orders, or matters relating to interstate and intercountry adoptions.

Included is a case registered in Melbourne but later heard in Geelong. As the case was never incorporated into the Geelong registry’s recordkeeping system it has been placed in this series.

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 were generally handled by the Supreme Court until 2000. Changes in policy and legislation over time have meant that since the 1990s, adoption related matters are only heard in the Supreme Court in exceptional circumstances, and cases are now rare.

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.

Interstate and Intercountry Adoption

Interstate adoptions were first legally recognised in Victoria when amendments were made to adoption legislation by the Adoption of Children Amending Act 1942 and reciprocal agreements between states were formalised. The Adoption of Children Act 1964 gave the Supreme Court the power to recognise adoptions made under laws outside of Victoria, allowing the first legal recognition of intercountry adoptions of children born outside of Australia into Victoria. In 1998, Australia signed the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions and amendments were passed in 2000 to the Adoption Act 1984 (Vic) to allow the County Court or Supreme Court to make or recognise adoption orders for children from Convention countries, or children in Victoria to be adopted to Convention countries.

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 does not correspond to the case file number assigned by the court.