Statistics
Wherever possible, a child should be raised by his or her birth family, extended family, or a suitable family in his or her country of origin. However, the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption recognises that intercountry adoption may also offer the advantage of a permanent family for children where a suitable family within the child’s country of origin cannot be found. A number of countries continue to inform Australia that they have a need for more families to adopt older and special needs children.
Consistent with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption principles, many countries of origin have made strong efforts to provide support to birth families so they can continue to care for their children. Such efforts have meant, for example, that fewer children are being abandoned in China. Over time, some countries have also successfully increased their capacity to find local families for children, particularly healthy infant children. These efforts have resulted in the promotion of local adoption and a reduction in the need for intercountry adoption.
These changes mean that the number of healthy infant children that are in need of Australian families is likely to decrease over time. The following table provides some information on the numbers of children from other countries adopted by Australians between 1997 and 2007.
For more information about adoptions in Australia see the Adoptions Australia 2006-07 report produced by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Please note that in this report, the numbers of adoptions refer to the numbers of adoptions finalised in 2006-07.
Australia’s Intercountry Adoption Rate
A number of recent reports have referred to Australia’s intercountry adoption rate as the second lowest in the developed world, ranked only above the UK. This often-quoted statistic comes from a chart of ‘per capita rates of intercountry adoptions in selected western countries for 2004’ contained in the Overseas Adoption in Australia report. This chart was compiled from statistics made available on individual government websites of 20 countries including the United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom. It does not show intercountry adoption statistics for all receiving countries or list all developed nations. As some countries compile their adoption statistics differently; this data is not necessarily comparable and can be incomplete.
Recent comparative intercountry adoption statistics, for example Selman (2006) ranked Australia as 15th out of the 20 receiving countries reviewed with the highest number of intercountry adoptions per capita.
Definition of the term ‘orphan’ in international statistics
An often quoted statistic is that there are over 100 million orphans world wide. While in general usage, the term ‘orphan’ refers to a child who has lost both their natural parents, it is important to note that since the 1990s, UNICEF, their global partners and many other international organisations define ‘orphan’ as a child who has lost one or both parents. Evidence shows that the vast majority of orphans are still living with a surviving parent, grandparent, or other family member and that 95% of all orphans are over the age of five.
For further information about the terminology being used by UNICEF, please see the information available from the UNICEF Press Centre on Orphans.
