Terms of Reference
Pursuant to section 10 of the Law Reform Commission Act 1967 (NSW), the Attorney General, the Honourable J 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 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. 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 G J Samuels AC QC (from 3 April 1993)
Justice Richard Chisholm
Mr Hal Sperling
Professor David Weisbrot
Officers of the Commission
Executive Director
Research and Writing
Justice Richard Chisholm
Ms Stephanie East
Ms Cathleen Sherry
Librarian
Desktop Publishing
Administrative Assistance
Ms Zoya Howes
Ms Suzanna Mishhawi
Cover Design
Honorary Consultants
Dr Owen Jessep
Ms Anne Roughley
Submissions
The Commission invites submissions on the issues relevant to this review, including but not limited to the issues raised in this Discussion Paper. Submissions and comments must reach the Commission by 29 July 1994. All submissions and inquiries should be directed to:
[Current contact details for the Law Reform Commission]
There is no special form required for submissions. If it is inconvenient or impractical to make a written submission you may telephone the Commission and either direct your comments to a Legal Officer over the telephone, or arrange to make your submission in person.
If you would like your submission to be treated as confidential, please indicate this in 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 Commisison 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 Discussion Paper. You may also 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 Commision is interested to hear comments, favourable or unfavourable, about experiences under alternative systems.
The Commission emphasises 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 any submissions received prior to the completion of the Report. However, submissions will be most useful if they are received before 29 July 1994.
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 to be treated as confidential, please indicate this in your submission. 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 final Report, the Commission may also find it useful to refer to and make mention of comments submitted in response to the Discussion 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 Report.
