Australia and the Hague Convention

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Source: cia.gov.

Australia is party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Convention ). Therefore all inter-country adoptions in Australia must meet the requirements of the Convention. Under the Hague Convention, Australia is a receiving country only and does not have an outgoing inter-country adoption program to place Australian children with families seeking to adopt from overseas.

For domestic and intercountry adoptions by prospective adoptive parents residing in Australia, each State and Territory is responsible for assessing and approving adoption applications in accordance with its particular legislation. Depending on the applicable State legislation, prospective adoptive parents must generally be resident in that State and at least one applicant should be either an Australian citizen or a permanent resident of Australia to be eligible to adopt.

Therefore, adoptions of Australian children by citizens of the United States residing outside Australia and/or who do not hold Australian citizenship or permanent residency are not permitted.