To be eligible to adopt an overseas child, you must meet all of the following criteria. These requirements are set out in the Adoption Act 1988 and Adoption (General) Regulations 2018.

• You must be a resident of South Australia and living here.
• You must be a permanent resident of Australia.
• You must be an Australian citizen, and in the case of joint applicants, at least one of the applicants must be an Australian citizen.
• You cannot be registered as a prospective adoptive parent if you had a previous registration that was cancelled on the grounds that it was improperly obtained.
• You cannot be registered if you are a prohibited person under the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act 2016.
• You cannot be registered if a child has, at any time, been removed from your care and become the subject of an order made under child protection legislation.
• You cannot be registered if you have been convicted of an offence involving:
  • violence towards a child
  • abuse of a child
  • abduction of a child.

You must also meet the criteria of the overseas country from which you want to adopt a child. These criteria are set by the overseas country and change from time to time.

Intercountry adoption is an extremely complex process involving coordination and communication across various agencies at different levels of government, as well as between authorities in overseas countries.

There are 5 stages in an overseas adoption process including:

1. attending information sessions and expressing your interest
2. education, assessment and registration as prospective adoptive parents
3. application to the overseas country
4. matching and placement of a child
5. post-adoption supervision, case work and support.

How long does it take?

Some applicants may have to wait a considerable time before an application can be prepared and sent overseas.

Some countries operate file management systems or quotas and it may not be possible for an application to be sent until the country calls for more applications.

It is difficult to estimate the length of time the overseas country authorities will take to consider the application and the South Australian or Australian Governments cannot influence this process.

There is no guarantee a child will be placed, even if the application is lodged with the overseas country.

Partner countries

Australia currently has an adoption agreement with several countries. However, South Australia only partners with selected countries. Refer to the Intercountry Adoption Australia website for a current list and specific information in each country about:

• basic eligibility
• characteristics of children
• approximate costs of each country (separate to SA Adoption fees)
• waiting times
• post-adoption arrangements
• immigration
• citizenship arrangements.

Adopting a child from overseas is an expensive process. The SA Adoption fees listed below do not take into account additional travel, accommodation, living or costs associated with the process in partner countries. These fees are current as at 1 July 2024.

Jurisdictional Support Guide – South Australia (PDF, 263.2 KB)