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Interested in open adoption in Australia?

Adopt with Barnardos. Open adoption gives children in foster care a new beginning. You can provide them with safety and stability for life.

Start your parenting journey with us

Many people believe the only way to adopt a child in Australia is via intercountry adoption. However, this is not the case. There are thousands of children in foster care in Australia who need a safe and secure family in which to grow and thrive by belonging to a family for life through local adoption.

Barnardos is currently looking for prospective adoptive parents in NSW and ACT to welcome vulnerable young children aged 5-12 years into their hearts and homes. Many of these children also have brothers and sisters in the same age range and we believe siblings should be kept together wherever possible.

We welcome people of all backgrounds and cultures. You may be a single person, a couple, already have a biological child or children, or be a member of the LGBTQIA community – it doesn’t matter, as long as you (and any other adult household members) meet our eligibility criteria to foster and then adopt a child. In most cases, the process to adopt a foster child or foster children in your care takes between one and two years.
Barnardos acknowledges that adoption is culturally inappropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Open adoption starts with you becoming a foster carer

Adoption gave these siblings in foster care
a permanent home.

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Frazier, Preston and Anabella's adoption story

Ronnie: We met, fell in love, got married, and we wanted a family. We started trying to make kids the old-fashioned way but had some problems with fertility. We started doing IVF, had some problems with IVF as well, so we started looking at alternatives.

Paul: We always wanted to have a large family, and even when we were getting to a point where it wasn’t working with IVF, we had a hunch that if it did we’d probably end up with one child, and that would have been lovely, but we really wanted a larger family.

Ronnie: There’s all these siblings out there who don’t have a home, who need to stay together. It’s such an important relationship, that that was one of the key motivating factors for us. We’re going to give children the gift of that relationship forever by keeping them together.

[Open adoption gives children in foster care the opportunity to belong to a family for life.]

Ronnie: We got a phone call from Barnardos saying here’s the three kids we’d like to match you with. Frazier was seven, Preston was five, and Anabella was four.

Paul: One of their first things they asked of me was, “Can we be on a soccer team?” That was one of the first things the boys asked me. I was really surprised because the attachment was very quick, particularly with the eldest child, Frazier. I felt like he, being the eldest and also being male, he was really looking for a father figure and he just, he was like like a magnet to me. He would come into my bedroom first thing in the morning and just give me a hug straight away.

[After being fostered by Ronnie and Paul for two and a half years, Frazier, Preston and Anabella were officially adopted in 2019.]

Ronnie: First they told their class, Anabella especially, she got up in the morning and said to her teacher “Can I tell my class something?” and she said “I’m being adopted today!” and she had to explain to her class what adopted meant. Her class was very excited for her.

Ronnie: So they got to walk up to the bench, stand with the judge, stamp their papers. My brother started bawling, the judge makes his order, everyone starts clapping, lots of photos under the government seal. I’ve never seen kids smile that big; they just turned into different children from that moment on.

Ronnie: When you’re a child who’s been born into a stable, loving family, like we were, you never have to ever question if mum and dad, do they love me or if I do something wrong will everything still be okay. It’s not even a question, because of course it is, because that’s how you have been from the moment you were born. I cannot possibly imagine, I could never put myself in their shoes, and comprehend what it must be like to be a child and actually question that. I can not comprehend. And these kids have had to do that. They are the bravest people I’ve ever met, for that reason alone.

Ronnie: Eventually, I think it got to the point that they realised that we love them no matter what. But until the adoptions were final, and they know when a judge says it, when the government says it, it means something. So no matter how many times we said it, it took that moment for them to, to be able to let go and understand, we’re not going anywhere. We were serious about this the whole time.

[Open Adoption has given Frazier, Preston and Anabella the security and stability of a family for life, while still understanding who they are and where they come from.]

Ronnie: We’ve also developed such a good relationship with their birth family that we’ve gone beyond the required visits and we’ve invited them to come watch the boys’ soccer games on random weekends and they’ve both been to Anabella’s dancing concert last year. It really is important that the kids have access to their birth family. It helps them to understand their history, understand who they are, where they’ve come from and why they were put into out-of-home care in the first place, which is important to understand and acknowledge. We worked hard to create a good relationship between us and the birth family, and to make sure the kids know that you’ve got a place in your life for them and for us.

Paul: We explained to them that loving them does not take away any love from us.

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Free information events

To help you better understand what’s involved in local adoption and fostering, Barnardos Australia holds free information events and education sessions where you can ask any questions about the foster-to-adopt process. Come along to an event near you, it’s an informal and friendly way to find out more about our adoption services – we’d love to meet you!

Events cover the following topics:

What is foster care?

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What is open adoption?

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Steps involved

Roles and responsibilities

Support and training

Hear what it's like from
other families

*We advise that you seek alternate care arrangements for your children if attending an information event in person due to the nature of the event and the information covered. We apologise for any inconvenience caused however we also hold online events in the event you cannot attend a local one.

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Open adoption information events

Information events coming soon.

21st October 2024
6pm - 7:30pm

Are you interested in adoption, becoming a foster carer or simply want to learn more about the experience? Join us for a free exclusive Online Carer Information Panel where you’ll have the unique opportunity to speak directly with our experienced foster carers and dedicated staff.

To receive your event link, email us or call the team on
1800 663 441

RSVP

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Our adoptive families share their amazing journeys

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A new life together

“We all get to feel safe and happy together and we all get to be in the same new life together.”

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Meet the Latimers

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Belonging for life

“We’ve made exactly the right decision and I wish more people would think about sibling adoption and about adopting older kids.”

Read story

Meet Ronnie and Paul

Rory and Dan
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Our adoption journey

“Once this little person comes into your life, you never look back. It’s been the most rewarding experience for us.”

Read story

Meet Rory and Dan

Open Adoption FAQs

For children whom the court has ruled cannot safely return home, open adoption provides security and belonging for life. The adopted child becomes a legal member of the adoptive family through a formal court process, whilst still maintaining contact with their birth family which helps them to form a healthy sense of identity.

Open adoption gives children who cannot live with their birth parents the opportunity for a secure future and a family for life. Having “openness” around their adoption means children know who they are and where they come from through birth family connection. This openness, knowledge, and understanding help adopted children to form a healthy sense of identity and belonging, which is essential for their emotional, intellectual, and physical development. Open adoption also means the child is no longer part of the foster care system.

Learn more about why open adoption is best for children.

The frequency of contact is decided by the court and depends on the age of the child and their relationship with their birth families. Contact usually includes face-to-face visits, letters, telephone and video calls, emails, photos, and cards.

No. There are no legal expenses, assessment expenses, or administration costs for carers wanting to become an adoptive parent. Our in-house legal team manages the adoption process from start to finish.

Depending on your financial situation, ongoing carer allowance and financial support may be available subject to Australian government policy.

No, every child’s family circumstances are different and so not all children in foster care are suitable for adoption. We also acknowledge that adoption is culturally inappropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait children.

Yes. We currently have children aged 5-12 and groups of two or more siblings in temporary care arrangements who desperately want and need a forever family.

We accept applications from prospective adoptive parents in the Sydney metropolitan area, Illawarra and Shoalhaven, and Hunter and Central Coast areas.

People tend to think it’s impossible to adopt in Australia and the only solution for people wanting to adopt is to adopt from overseas, however this is not the case!

Open adoption from foster care in NSW and ACT is a viable path for people wanting to build their family. There are many children in foster care who are suitable for adoption. 

The process of adoption is very involved and can take approximately two years or more from the time a family decides to adopt, to the time when an adoption is finalised.

Learn more about how to adopt a child in Australia.

Enquire about our adoption process