Posted by It is more aptly referred to as ‘open adoption’ as the premise is that whilst a child legally joins your family for life, their connections to birth family should also remain supported for life.
Whether you choose an agency that specialises in adoption from foster care (this means they are licensed to complete much of the adoption in-house and lodge in Court), adoption can occur from anywhere in Australia.
The key difference is that the government agency will lead the adoption process through court for any children in foster care with agencies that are not licensed to lead their own adoptions.
In Australia, the decision to adopt from foster care would usually be determined a good couple of years after you have been caring for a child or children. This will be informed by:
- That there is no possibility that a child or children will be able to return to live with parents
- The bonding/attachment between the child and the carer/s
- The carer/s can demonstrate they can support the needs and wellbeing of the child/ren
- The carer/s are respectful of birth families and able to support that ongoing connection
To learn more about the and outs of adoption in Australia, check out
The Foster Carer Hub 
I love reading about a non-US perspective. Sounds very similar to our experience adopting from foster care here in the states.
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Thanks Andrew. Is there a similar issue in the US in terms of foster care shortage?
Lots of smaller agencies run good mini-campaigns (mostly social media now) but there is nothing overarching to increase public awareness of the contemporary foster care role and the need for more.
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