Terms of Reference
Pursuant to section 10 of the Law Reform Commission Act 1976 (NSW), the Attorney General, the Hon John P Hannaford MLC, referred, by letter received on 1 December 1992, the following matter to the Law Reform Commission:
The Commission is to review the current scope and operation of the Adoption of Children Act 1965 and in particular to consider:
(i) the criteria for the selection of the adoptive parents, regulation of standards of practice and recognition of adoption agencies and support groups;
(ii) the relationship between adoption and other forms of permanent care;
(iii) intra-family adoption;
(iv) the relevance of reproduction technology and surrogacy to adoption law;
(v) the relevance of Aboriginal customary law, and ethnic and racial heritage;
(vi) inter-country adoption and overseas orders of adoption having special regard to any international treaties or conventions to which Australia is a party; and
(vii) any related matter.
Participants
The Law Reform Commission is constituted by the Law Reform Commission Act 1967 (NSW). For the purpose of this reference, the Chairman, in accordance with the Act, created a Division comprising the following members of the Commission:
The Hon Gordon J Samuels AC QC
Associate Professor Richard Chisholm
Justice John Brownie
Ms Jane Stackpool
Mr Hal Sperling QC
Professor David Weisbrot
Officers of the Commission
Executive Director
Research and Writing
Associate Professor Richard Chisholm
Ms Adrienne Bailey
Ms Stephanie East
Librarian
Desktop Publishing
Administrative Assistance
Cover Design
Submissions
The Commission invites submissions on the issues relevant to this review, including but not limited to the issues raised in this Issues Paper. All submissions and inquiries should be directed to:
[Current contact details for the Law Reform Commission]
If you would like your submission to be treated as confidential, please indicate this on your submission.
Who can make a submission?
Anyone can make a submission or comment. If you have been affected by the Act in any way or have a particular interest in the area of adoption, the Commission would like to hear from you. It is not necessary to have legal or any other special qualifications. The Commission is keen to hear from all those who have something to say about adoption, whatever their experiences and whatever their particular points of view.
What should a submission contain?
The Commission is interested in any comments on how the law is operating or how it might be improved. You may wish to address some or all of the issues raised in this Issues Paper. You may wish to discuss other related issues that have not been raised, but which you consider relevant. The Commission is aware that approaches to adoption law differ between Australian states and between countries. The Commission is interested to hear comments, favourable or unfavourable, about experiences under alternative systems.
It is not necessary to make specific recommendations for reform; it would also be useful to receive submissions that point out problems, or describe people's experiences relating to adoption. Nor is it necessary for all submission to be written specifically for this Review. The Commission is also glad to receive copies of submissions made to other agencies inquiring into adoption-related matters.
The Commission emphasised that comments on any aspect of the legislation and its impact will be welcome and will be given careful consideration.
What form can a submission take?
There is no special form required for submissions. You may:
- Send or fax a letter to the Commission stating your views. The fax number is (02) 247 1054.
- Telephone the Commission on (02) 252 3855 and ask to speak to a legal officer about your views.
- Telephone or write to the Commission and arrange to make a submission in person.
Is there a deadline for submissions?
The Commission will do its best to benefit from submissions received prior to the completion of the Report. However, submissions will be most useful if they are received in time to be used in the preparation of the Discussion Paper. It is requested that submissions be received by the Commission by 1 September 1993.
Use of submissions and confidentiality
Submissions made to the Commission may be used in two ways:
- Since the Commission's process of law reform is essentially public, copies of submissions made to the Commission will normally be made available on request to any person or organisation. However, if you would like all or part of your submission or comment to be treated as confidential, please indicate this in your submission or comments. Any request for a copy of a submission marked "confidential" will be determined in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1989 (NSW).
- In preparing the Discussion Paper and the final Report, the Commission may also find it useful to refer to and make mention of comments submitted in response to this Issues Paper. However, if a request for confidentiality is made, it will be respected by the Commission in relation to the publication of such submissions in a Discussion Paper or a Report.
