Information About Investigations Into Possible New Programs
The Strategic Plan was developed to ensure Australia has a nationally consistent and coordinated approach to investigating possible new programs. The Strategic Plan outlines key principles for establishing new intercountry adoption programs. These principles ensure that new programs are only established where it is in the best interests of children and in compliance with the standards and principles of the Hague Convention.
The Strategic Plan outlines a number of steps to be undertaken in assessing whether to establish a new intercountry adoption program. Assessment of countries against the Strategic Plan are designed to ascertain whether certain conditions exist both in Australia and in a particular country that would make further work to establish an intercountry adoption program possible.
Preliminary investigation work, and in some cases substantive strategic assessments, have been undertaken in relation to the following countries:
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Georgia
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Indonesia
- Kazakhstan
- Laos
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mauritius
- Mali
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Poland
- Russia
- South Africa
- Swaziland
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United States of America
- Vietnam
More information about these investigations is available as a download:
- Information about investigations into possible new programs [DOC 190KB]
- Information about investigations into possible new programs [PDF 135KB]
The above document was updated in October 2009. These assessments have been undertaken using a variety of information sources, including, where appropriate, discussions with the other country concerned and/or Australia's diplomatic post.
Further work will not be undertaken for a number of the countries listed above as a preliminary assessment has indicated that conditions or barriers exist to establishing a program. Those conditions or barriers may include:
- significant concerns regarding compliance with Hague Convention standards
- limited number of children in need of intercountry adoption
- difficulties exist in relation to establishing whether children are legitimately and legally in need of adoption
- significant civil unrest or conflict exists
- lack of appropriate infrastructure, including legislation, to conduct intercountry adoptions
- eligibility criteria is too restrictive (such as residency requirements), or
- country of origin is not in a position to open a program with Australia.
The Department will continue to review these countries, should changes occur, as well as other possible new countries.
Future assessment work is being undertaken in relation to those countries where a possible new program may be viable. Resource implications impact on the number of countries that can be investigated concurrently. Where programs are feasible, it is important to note that many countries have a limited number of healthy infant children in need of adoptive families compared to a high number of older and/or special needs children.
The Department consults with the National Intercountry Adoption Advisory Group and the State and Territory Central Authorities on the outcomes of these investigations. Further information and updates to the ‘Summary table – assessment of countries against the strategic plan’ will be available on this site in due course.