Victoria’s Labor Government under Premier Daniel Andrews will introduce a bill this week that will amend the state’s Adoption Act, making sex and gender identity irrelevant to the process of couples adopting children.
Minister for Equality Martin Foley says the law will provide certainty for children of LGBTIQ couples and their parents.
“There are thousands of parents and children whose relationships are discriminated against and devalued by laws that are well and truly past their use-by date,” Mr Foley said, “It’s now time that we removed this discrimination against same-sex families and recognised that it’s love that defines a family, not sexuality or gender identity.”
Daniel Andrews arrives at #springst Says introducing same-sex adoption laws is a “proud day” for his government pic.twitter.com/JNXV2dlNNN
— Andrew Lund (@andrew_lund) October 5, 2015
The Australian Christian Lobby have been calling for religious protections for adoption agencies, though the proposed bill does not include any such clause. “There is a difference of view amongst faith communities, but we are very determined that this position reflects, not just the position that we took to the election in 2014, but the widely supported view by most Victorians,” Mr Foley said. Victoria is one of four states and territories in Australia (Queensland, Northern Territory and South Australia), that have not introduced legislation to allow same-sex and gender diverse couples to adopt children.
Under our state’s outdated and unfair laws, only ‘a man and a woman’ can adopt a child in Victoria.This is wrong. Far…
Posted by Daniel Andrews on Monday, 5 October 2015
Most states allow LGBT individuals to adopt children, excluding the Northern Territory and South Australia. South Australia have been reviewing their adoption legislation since 2014. Here in Western Australia, LGBTIQ individuals, couples and step-parents have been able to legally adopt since 2002.
OIP Staff
