❓ A parliamentary question regarding the adoption of a child by a same-sex couple, focusing on departmental involvement, qualifications, and processes. The Minister's response addresses some questions while citing privacy and legal constraints for others.
AnsweredQoN 445Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
ADOPTION - SAME-SEX COUPLES
I refer to the decision to allow a male same-sex couple to adopt a baby boy. (1) How many staff of the Department for Child Protection were involved with this adoption? (2) What qualifications do they have? (3) How many counsellors were involved, and were they clinical psychologists or psychiatrists? (4) Were any of the departmental staff who took part in this process in a same-sex relationship? (5) What age was the mother of the baby boy? (6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY
I refer to the decision to allow a male same-sex couple to adopt a baby boy. (1) How many staff of the Department for Child Protection were involved with this adoption? (2) What qualifications do they have? (3) How many counsellors were involved, and were they clinical psychologists or psychiatrists? (4) Were any of the departmental staff who took part in this process in a same-sex relationship? (5) What age was the mother of the baby boy? (6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(1) How many staff of the Department for Child Protection were involved with this adoption? (2) What qualifications do they have? (3) How many counsellors were involved, and were they clinical psychologists or psychiatrists? (4) Were any of the departmental staff who took part in this process in a same-sex relationship? (5) What age was the mother of the baby boy? (6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(2) What qualifications do they have? (3) How many counsellors were involved, and were they clinical psychologists or psychiatrists? (4) Were any of the departmental staff who took part in this process in a same-sex relationship? (5) What age was the mother of the baby boy? (6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(3) How many counsellors were involved, and were they clinical psychologists or psychiatrists? (4) Were any of the departmental staff who took part in this process in a same-sex relationship? (5) What age was the mother of the baby boy? (6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(4) Were any of the departmental staff who took part in this process in a same-sex relationship? (5) What age was the mother of the baby boy? (6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(5) What age was the mother of the baby boy? (6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(1) How many staff of the Department for Child Protection were involved with this adoption? (2) What qualifications do they have? (3) How many counsellors were involved, and were they clinical psychologists or psychiatrists? (4) Were any of the departmental staff who took part in this process in a same-sex relationship? (5) What age was the mother of the baby boy? (6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(2) What qualifications do they have? (3) How many counsellors were involved, and were they clinical psychologists or psychiatrists? (4) Were any of the departmental staff who took part in this process in a same-sex relationship? (5) What age was the mother of the baby boy? (6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(3) How many counsellors were involved, and were they clinical psychologists or psychiatrists? (4) Were any of the departmental staff who took part in this process in a same-sex relationship? (5) What age was the mother of the baby boy? (6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(4) Were any of the departmental staff who took part in this process in a same-sex relationship? (5) What age was the mother of the baby boy? (6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(5) What age was the mother of the baby boy? (6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(6) Was the mother aged 21, or under; or was the mother aged 18, or under? (7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(7) Had the mother had any previous contact with the department before the adoption process? (8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(8) How many couples are on the waiting list for adoption at present? (9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(9) How many of these couples are same-sex couples? (10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(10) How many of these couples are male same-sex couples? (11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(11) Was the mother of this boy given access to all the files of the people on the waiting list? Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
Hon SUE ELLERY replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The question begins by making certain assumptions about the sex of the couple and the sex of the baby. I will not make any comment about that, because I cannot say anything that would identify any person involved in that process. The answer to the remainder of the question is as follows - (1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(1) The relinquishing process was case-managed by a number of staff members in a district office. Staff in the department’s adoption service who were involved included the manager, the team leader and the case manager. Approval to proceed with the adoption was given by a director, executive director and director general. (2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(2) Professional degrees included Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts. (3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(3) One non-departmental clinical psychologist and one departmental social worker. (4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(4) This is an extraordinary question. It would be a breach of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to require staff to provide information regarding their sexual orientation. I have no intention of doing that. (5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(5)-(7) Section 124 of the Adoption Act 1994 prevents the department from providing details of the parties to the adoption. (8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(8) At present, there are 43 joint - that is, couple - applicants who have expressed an interest in adopting a locally born child. (9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(9)-(10) None. (11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
(11) No. The standard process for adoption was followed. The birth mother was given access to information about four prospective adoptive couples who best met her expressed wishes. As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
As the member may be aware, the grandmother of this child recently spoke publicly about her family’s experience in these circumstances and stated - I have listened to all the bigoted views, the people that are ringing up trying to force their opinion on others, and I wanted to let you know that this child is doing wonderfully and we know very well . . . it was the best thing that we could have done in the world . . . we made a decision, as a family and we had a lot of help from the adoption agency, my daughter had to see a psychiatrist, we had to be in on it and everything, before we made the decision to adopt . . . we all wanted to look at the best choices for the child . . . they gave us choices, they gave us a list of people.
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