Past adoption practices

Adoption practice has changed in the past forty years.

During the 1950s and 1960s, public policy assumed that a 'clean break' from the natural mother was best for the adopted child. Additionally, many past adoptions did not meet the standards of that time. Babies were taken from their mothers without informed consent.

Past adoption practices refers to any of the practices related to forced adoption, Stolen Generations, closed adoption or children being placed with people who were not suitable.

On 25 October 2012, the Victorian Parliament apologised for past adoption practices.

Forced adoption

Forced adoption refers to past practices that forcibly separated mothers and their babies. Not all these practices resulted in adoption.

This included unmarried mothers who were forced, pressured or coerced to give up their children rather than bear the shame and social stigma of pregnancy and birth outside marriage.

These practices usually occurred in an institution, such as a hostel or hospital. Practices included:

• sending mothers to maternity homes with harsh conditions
• forcibly restraining mothers when they gave birth
• immediately separating them from their newborn babies against their will
• pressuring or coercing mothers into signing consent forms.

The long-term effects of past adoption practices cannot be understated.

The Victorian Government acknowledges the term ‘forced adoption’ does not represent the experiences of all affected by these practices. The term is not used to describe the experiences of individuals but used to introduce the overarching subject matter.

Read more about forced adoption.

Stolen Generations

Many children placed for adoption were members of the Stolen Generations. This includes children adopted through the Aborigines Welfare Board. You can read more about the Stolen Generations on the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies website.

You can also find resources, services and support available on the First Peoples - State Relations website.

Closed adoption

Since the 1960s adoptions have on average become more open. Closed adoptions are typically characterised by the adopted person being told that they are the biological child of their adoptive parents and never having any contact or knowledge of their natural family.

Open adoptions are characterised by open communication between the adoptive parents and natural parents and the adopted person knowing they are adopted throughout their life.

Since 1984 changes have occurred that have made adoptions more open including:

• the new Adoption Act 1984 required the Court and the Secretary or principal officer to consider wishes of a natural parent for contact and information exchange
• the Act also provided for adopted people being able to access information about their adoption including information that would identify a natural parent
• following legislative changes in 2013, Natural mothers and fathers were able to obtain identifying information about their adult adopted children.
• new regulations in 2019 added a requirement that approved person to adopt a child must have a suitable appreciation of the importance of—

(i) access to a child's natural parent or parents and family; and

(ii) exchange of information about the child with the child's natural parent or parents and family; and

(iii) participating in the formation of an adoption plan for the child.

• a legislative change in 2022 allowed the Secretary to share adoption information with other organisations

Today natural parents and adoptive parents regularly exchange contact details soon after the child has been placed.

Suitability of applicants

Some children were placed for adoption with adults who were not suitable to adopt and who either caused them harm or failed to protect them from harm. This may have occurred independently of whether the adoption was forced or not.

Since 1984 the assessment requirements to adopt have improved and the criteria for assessment set out in the Adoption Regulations have become more detailed.