Queensland Consolidated Acts

ADOPTION ACT 2009 - SECT 89

89 Selection to meet needs of particular child

(1) This section applies if the chief executive anticipates a particular child will need an adoptive placement.

(2) To ensure the child’s placement needs are met, the chief executive may select 1 or more persons under this section to be assessed for suitability to be an adoptive parent of the child.

(3) If the child has an approved carer, the chief executive may select the approved carer.

(4) If the child has a long-term guardian, the chief executive may select the long-term guardian.

(5) If a sibling of the child has been adopted, the chief executive may select a person who adopted the sibling.

(6) If the chief executive considers there is no-one listed in the suitable adoptive parents register who is likely to meet the anticipated placement needs of the child, the chief executive may select anyone who the chief executive considers is likely to meet the anticipated placement needs of the child.

Examples of persons who may be likely to meet the anticipated placement needs of a child—

• for a child with a disability, a person who has previously expressed an interest in adopting a child with a disability

• for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, a person from the child’s community or language group

(7) A person may be selected under this section even if the person—

(a) does not have a conforming expression of interest; or

(b) is not listed in the expression of interest register.

(8) However—

(a) the chief executive may select a person listed in the expression of interest register who does not have a conforming expression of interest only if the person agrees to being selected; and

(b) the chief executive may select a person who is not listed in the expression of interest register only if—

(i) the person agrees to being selected; and

(ii) the person is an adult; and

(iii) the person is an Australian citizen or has a spouse who is an Australian citizen; and

(iv) the person is resident or domiciled in Queensland; and

(v) for a person who has a spouse, the person and the spouse are living together.

(9) In this section—

"conforming expression of interest" , in relation to a child, means a current expression of interest that—

(a) relates to a local adoption or an intercountry adoption from a particular country, whichever is relevant to the child; and

(b) contains preferences that are consistent with the child’s characteristics.