{"id":600790,"date":"2026-04-11T21:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T21:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/600790\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T21:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T21:30:13","slug":"thousands-of-children-are-stuck-in-institutional-housing-as-australias-adoption-rates-keep-plummeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/600790\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of children are stuck in institutional housing as Australia’s adoption rates keep plummeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly 5000 children<\/a> are stuck in institutional housing as Australia’s adoption<\/a> rates continue to plummet.<\/p>\n

More than 260 children were adopted in 2020-21, but in 2024-25 that figure dropped to just 155.<\/p>\n

\"GenericAdoption rates have plummeted in Australia – we want to know why. (Paul Harris\/SMH)<\/p>\n

Overseas adoptions nearly halved in that period, falling from 37 to just 19.<\/p>\n

The 19 children adopted from overseas came from just six countries: Thailand, Taiwan, India, Colombia, Hong Kong and South Korea.<\/p>\n

Domestic adoptions accounted for \ufeffalmost 90 per cent of the adoptions finalised in 2024-25, and about 80 per cent of them were known child adoptions.<\/p>\n

But even known child adoptions, wherein a child is adopted by someone they already have a relationship with, declined by about one-fifth from 147 to 119.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Have you got a story about adoption? Contact reporter Maddison Leach at mleach@nine.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Australia’s adoption rates have been falling for years<\/p>\n

Adoption numbers have plummeted by 98 per cent since the 1970s, due in part to the introduction of open adoption legislation in the ’80s and ’90s.<\/p>\n

Adopt Change chief executive Renee Leigh is concerned about how this will affect children in need if numbers continue to drop.<\/p>\n

“The primary cause of declining adoption rates are due to limited local adoptions and inter-country adoptions, and children in care not being provided with a case plan that includes their permanency planning \u2013 and in particular adoption,” she told nine.com.au.<\/p>\n

“Anecdotally, there are more people interested in adopting than the number of children with a case plan for adoption.”<\/p>\n

Another challenge is that many Australians who would consider adoption\ufeff will not consider foster care, due to concerns about its impermanence.<\/p>\n

Many turn to surrogacy to start a family instead.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

“This is a missed opportunity to provide children in the system with a permanent family based home, instead of spending their childhood in residential group settings with shift workers,” Leigh said.<\/p>\n

About 4800 children in the Australian care system, including kids as young as two, are \ufeffin institutional housing instead of growing up in a family-based home.<\/p>\n

These children \ufeffare more prone to poor outcomes including homelessness, juvenile justice, low unemployment, and incomplete education.<\/p>\n

They’re also at risk from predators.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Many would benefit from adoption and it is possible in legislation, but \ufeffpolicy and practice don’t see it come to reality for many children.<\/p>\n

“In many cases, children who could benefit from adoption experience significant delays or are unable to access it at all,” Leigh said.<\/p>\n

“This highlights a broader issue \u2013 the system doesn’t always deliver timely, permanent solutions for children who need them most.”<\/p>\n

The cost of living crisis has also affected \ufeffhow many potential foster care families are able to open their home to a child.<\/p>\n

Domestic adoption fees \ufeffcan exceed $3000, while international adoptions can cost upwards of $10,000.<\/p>\n

The majority of adoptions in Australia in the last five years were known child adoptions, suggesting adoption is now primarily used to formalise stable, existing relationships rather than to place children with new families.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Even then, adoption can be a lengthy process, which can put some prospective adoptive parents off.<\/p>\n

\"CashThe cost of adoption in Australia may hold some families back from even trying. (Getty Images\/iStockphoto)<\/p>\n

Long wait times may also be affecting international adoption numbers.<\/p>\n

International adoption numbers, which had been falling since the mid-2000s, were also slashed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and have not recovered.<\/p>\n

In 2024\u201325, the total median length of time from approval of an international adoption application to placement of a child was around four years. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Leigh wants to see a greater focus on stable guardianship and adoption for children who are unable to remain with or return safely with their family of origin.<\/p>\n

Have you successfully gone through the adoption process, or considered adoption but been unable to pursue it?\ufeff We want to hear from you – contact reporter Maddison Leach at mleach@nine.com.au.<\/a><\/p>\n

NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly 5000 children are stuck in institutional housing as Australia’s adoption rates continue to plummet. More than 260…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-600790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}