Menu
The first point of contact is obtaining a General Application and Affidavit Forms (online or over the counter from Magistrates Court – Burnie, Launceston and Hobart).
Magistrates Court of Tasmania
https://www.magistratescourt.tas.gov.au/contact
Hobart Magistrates Court
Opening hours – Monday to Friday – 9am to 5pm
Street Address: – 25 Liverpool Street, Hobart Tasmania 7000
Write: GPO Box 354, Hobart Tasmania 7001
Telephone: 03 616 57136 – Civil – option 3
Fax : 03 6173 0221
Email: [email protected]
Past Adoption Information Services
https://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/children/adoption/past_adoption_services
Adoptions & Permanency Services
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (03) 6166 042
Street Address:
Wingfield Building, St Johns Park, NEW TOWN, Tasmania, 7008
Postal Address: PO Box 538, Hobart Tasmania 7001
NOTE: There are no support organisations in TASMANIA who have experience with Discharges for adoptees. It is recommended applicants engage independent legal advice.
Click here to Search for Legal Aid in Tasmania
NOTE – Tasmanian Past Adoption information Services state that the process in the first instance is to contact Adoptions and After Care Support to discuss the situation. If there is deemed to be grounds and Adoptions and After Care support are able to assist, they charge no fees.
**Any decision about whether there are grounds for discharge is to be made by the court itself.
There is no mention of any external agency in the Act.
Adoptees, definitely should have the OPTION to seek support in the process of application but there does not seem to be any subordinate legislation that REQUIRES adoptees to take the pathway proposed by Adoptions, Permanency and After Care Support Services Communities Tasmania.
Discharge of adoption orders
(1) In this section –
Adoption order includes an adoption order made under the repealed Act or any corresponding previous enactment;
eligible person means the adopted person to whom an adoption order relates, a natural parent of the adopted person, an adoptive parent of the adopted person, the Secretary, or the principal officer of an approved agency by which the adoption was arranged –
and a reference to special circumstances includes a reference to an irretrievable breakdown of the relationship between the adoptive parents and the adopted person.
(2) An eligible person may apply to the court for an order discharging an adoption order on the grounds –
(a) that the adoption order or a consent for the purposes of the adoption order was obtained by fraud, duress, or other improper means; or
(b) that special circumstances exist in relation to the welfare and interests of the person why the adoption order should be discharged.
(3) Where an application is made under subsection (2) , the court shall, if satisfied that there may be grounds on which an order may be made, direct that an investigation be made into the circumstances under which the application is made.
(4) An investigation under subsection (3) shall be made by the Secretary and, where the court so directs, by a person nominated by the Attorney-General.
(5) If, after consideration of a report of an investigation carried out under subsection
(3) , the court is satisfied that the adoption order should be discharged, the court shall make an order for the discharge of the adoption but shall not make such an order if it appears to the court that it would be prejudicial to the welfare and interests of the adopted person to do so.
(6) Where the court makes an order discharging an adoption order, any consent given under this Act for the purposes of the adoption of the person to whom the adoption order relates ceases to have effect unless the court otherwise orders.
(7) Where the court makes an order under this section in respect of an adopted person, it may, at the same time or subsequently, make such consequential or ancillary orders as it thinks necessary in the interests of justice or the welfare and interests of the person, including orders relating to –
(a) the name of the person; and
(b) the ownership of property; and
(c) the care, control, custody, or guardianship of the person; and
(d) the domicile of the person.
(8) On the making of an order under this section discharging an adoption order, but subject to an order made under subsection (7) and to section 50 (2) , the rights, privileges, duties, liabilities, and relationships of the person to whom the adoption order relates and of all other persons shall be the same as if that order had not been made, but without prejudice to –
(a) anything lawfully done; or
(b) the consequences of anything unlawfully done; or
(c) a proprietary right or interest that became vested in a person –
while the adoption order was in force.
