Thursday, 6 February 2025

Adoption

David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (17:52): (1394) My adjournment matter this evening is for the attention of the new Attorney-General. I had the pleasure of meeting with a constituent recently who is involved with supporting and advocating for adoptees, particularly adult adoptees. It was a very interesting discussion. Apparently with modern innovations such as DNA testing and sites like ancestry.com, there are increasing numbers of adults who are discovering later in life that they were actually adopted. I can only imagine that this must be a jarring experience, especially if the parents that raised them have passed away. Obviously there would be many questions, from curiosity about their birth parents to important questions about hereditary health conditions. Apparently it can be quite a process to seek and receive relevant information, and while the Victorian government have introduced integrated birth certificates which list both the birth parents and the adopted or social family, there is a bit of a process to get there.

The constituent that I met with and the people they are working with are not seeking any change in policy but do want a better understanding of how the process is working. What they are seeking and what I am requesting from the Attorney is information on what kinds of documents adoptees are seeking and how long it is taking to receive them.