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PRIME MINISTER

29 May 2014

TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MP
AUSTRALIAN CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT (INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION)
BILL 2014 SECOND READING SPEECH
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, PARLIAMENT HOUSE

E&OE.

Thank you Madam Speaker.

I move that the Bill be now read a second time.

Madam Speaker, this Bill is another step in delivering reform to intercountry adoptions.

For too long adoption had been in the too hard basket. For too long, it has been too hard to adopt and for too
long, this has a policy no go zone.

It shouldnt be that way - because adoption is all about giving children a better life.

There are too many children who have no parents or no effective parents, and they deserve a better life and
adoption is a way of giving it to them.

The Government wants to make it easier to adopt when it is in the best interests of the child. We dont want
to repeat the mistakes of the past, but we do want to remove the red tape and reduce the delays that dont
benefit anyone.

It is red tape that impacts in children who legitimately need a safe and loving home and Australians who
dream of providing that home.

So Madam Speaker in December last year, I announced that the Government would improve overseas
adoption by the end of this year.

We have been delivering on that commitment.

Already, the Government has considered a report by senior officials on options to reform overseas adoption
which was informed by over 100 submissions from the public.

We have announced improvements to the process for families adopting from Taiwan and South Korea.
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We have opened a new overseas adoption programme with South Africa and are commencing discussion
with seven other countries about possible new overseas adoption programmes.

COAG the Council of Australian Government has also agreed in principle to a new national overseas
adoption service from 2015 and the Minister for Immigration is developing options to reduce waiting times
for visas for adopting children from overseas.

This Bill is another important element of my Governments commitment to reform intercountry adoption.

The purpose of this Bill is to facilitate the grant of Australian citizenship to children adopted by Australian
citizens under bilateral adoption arrangements between Australia and countries that are not party to the
Hague Convention on intercountry adoption.

Under such bilateral arrangements, Australian citizens have, for several years been able to adopt children
from South Korea, Taiwan and Ethiopia. Although the intercountry adoption programme with Ethiopia is
now closed there are a number of families who are awaiting the finalisation of their adoptions.

At present children adopted under bilateral arrangements require a passport from the home country and an
Australian adoption visa to travel to Australia. This imposes additional complexity and cost on the adopting
families. Under the amendments to be made by this Bill, children will be able to be granted citizenship as
soon as the adoption is finalised. They will then be able to travel to Australia on an Australian passport with
their new families as Australian citizens.

This Bill will place children adopted by Australian citizens under bilateral arrangements in the same position
as children adopted by Australian citizens under Hague Convention arrangements. The overarching
requirement from Australias perspective that a potential partner country is, first, willing participate in
intercountry adoption arrangement with Australia, and, second, will meet the standards in safeguards
equivalent to those required under the Hague Convention.

Where a non-Convention country meets these standards, there is no reason why adoptions should not be
recognised in the same way as adoptions in Convention countries.

The Government has recently given effect to this principle by amending the Family Law (Bilateral
Arrangement Intercountry Adoption) Regulations 1998 to provide for automatic recognition of adoptions
in partner countries once the adoption is finalised and an adoption compliance certificate has been issued.

Children adopted from Hague Convention countries which issue adoption compliance certificates are
already able to obtain Australia citizenship as soon as the adoption is finalised. This has been the case since
the enactment of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007. The adoption compliance certificate provides
assurance that the adoption has been carried out in accordance with the ethical and legal framework required
by the Hague Convention. As the process for children adoption under bilateral arrangements, including
automatic recognition under Australian law is in substance identical. There is no reason why those children
should be treated differently in the Australian Citizenship Act.

The key feature of the Bill is an amendment to Subdivision AA of Division 2 of Part 2 of the Act. The
amendment simply expands the scope of the existing Hague Convention provisions so that they also cover
adoptions in accordance with bilateral arrangements. The decision making framework remains the same. An
application must be made to the Minister for the child to become an Australian citizen. The application can
only be approved if the adoption has been finalised in the overseas country and an adoption compliance
certificate issued by the authorities of that country. The adoption must also have the effect terminating the
legal relationship between the child and his or her previous parents. Importantly, the Minister retains a
discretion to refuse an application which meets the requirements.

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This would be relevant if fraud or some other irregularity came to light before citizenship was granted.
Similarly, the Minister must not approve a child becoming a citizen if the Minister is not satisfied of the
identity of the child.

Madam Speaker, the amendments made by the Bill will apply for the benefit of all children adopted under
bilateral arrangements whether the adoption was finalised before or after the amendments come into force.

I am pleased to undertake this real action to bring families together.

Without pretending that everything is going to be simple and straight forward immediately, I hope that this
Bill and my Governments other reforms to intercountry adoption will provide significant new hope for
parents without children and significant new hope for children without parents.

I commend the Bill to the House.

[ends]