While in opposition, now Premier David Crisafulli made a call to “bring back adoption” as a response to high rates of youth crime.
There is no evidence linking adoption of children from child protection and reducing crime rates. To investigate this proposition, Jigsaw Queensland interviewed Prof. Daryl Higgins and Prof. Nahum Mushin AM.
They asked what does the evidence really say about adoption and child protection, what are the risks of using adoption as a political response, and what proven, evidence-based alternatives exist for supporting children, families, and communities? Their interviews make for interesting listening.
Prof. Daryl Higgins – Qld Child Safety Inquiry & Adoption Act Review
Professor Nahum Mushin AM – Review of Qld’s Adoption Legislation
Once elected, the Crisafulli Government announced a Child Safety Commission of Inquiry.
The submission lodged by ARA relates primarily to the following Term of Reference:
ARA members have significant expertise in adoption and their lived/living experience adds to their extensive body of knowledge. In writing this submission ARA detailed how adult adoptees can provide critical perspectives on the impacts of living as an adopted person across their lifespan. Decisions made by adults in power on behalf of children must consider the rights and wellbeing of the adult they will become.
ARA requested the Commission of Inquiry to make it a priority to hear directly from adult adopted people and parents who lost children to adoption to ensure future reforms do not replicate past and present harms.
The submission also pointed out the many inequities between the rights of the child and the responsibilities of the carers in the Child Protection Act 1999 and the Adoption Act 2009. Children (and the adults they become) are worse off in every respect under the Adoption Act 2009.
Read the full submission by clicking the button below: