Same-sex adoption is now legal everywhere in Australia

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MAY 30: (L-R) Sydney couple, Faycal Dow, aged 38, daughter Myla Dow, aged 2 months, and Hunter Dow, aged 44, pose during a portrait session on May 30, 2015 in Sydney, Australia. Faycal and Hunter were legally married in France last year and had their first child Myla this year and are supporters of same-sex marriage. " For the sake of our daughter more than anything, it is important that our marriage is recognised as valid in Australia, the country we live in and hope to bring our beautiful daughter up in", said Hunter. The marriage equality debate in Australia has reignited on the back of Ireland's referendum legalising same-sex marriage last week. Recent polls suggest public support for gay marriage in Australia is at an all-time high of 72%. (Photo by Don Arnold/Getty Images)

Same-sex couples can now adopt children anywhere in Australia.

The Northern Territory was the last region of the country holding out against the tide of progress – until this week.

In a historic move, lawmakers added amendments to the NT Adoption of Children Act which mean that same-sex couples – as well as de facto couples – can now legally adopt.

Same-sex parents

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Before now, only straight couples were allowed this right.

The decision comes after the federal Parliament’s followed the country’s wishes – expressed in the overwhelming 62 to 38 percent result of the postal vote – by legalising equal marriage.

The Northern Territory’s Minister for Families, Dale Wakefield, said that the change in legislation would be good for both same-sex couples and kids.

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She said: “Children and families are at the heart of the Government’s decision making and that’s why we introduced this legislation change to Parliament last year,” The Armidale Express has reported.

“All couples, regardless of marital status or gender, who genuinely want to provide children with a loving, caring and safe home environment, should have the legal right to apply.

“Modernising our adoption laws reflects the diversity of Territory families today,” she added.

People in the crowd celebrate as the result is announced during the Official Melbourne Postal Survey Result Announcement at the State Library of Victoria on November 15, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

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Sally Cotton, a member of LGBT group Rainbow Territory, welcomed the groundbreaking amendments.

“Rainbow Territory strongly supports today’s amendments to the Adoption of Children Act. This is an important law reform,” she said.


“For too long access to adoption had been restricted to married couples.

PARIS, FRANCE - DECEMBER 16: People demonstrate for the legalisation of gay marriage and parenting on December 16, 2012 in Paris, France. Demonstrations have shown a deep division in French society over the marriage equality bill expected to be passed in early 2013. The bill would not only legalize same-sex marriage but would also allow gay couples to adopt, which is seen as the most controversial issue. French President Francois Hollande, who has supported the legislation, is facing criticism from anti-gay and religious groups, while gay rights groups have warned of inadequacies within the bill. (Photo by Antoine Antoniol/Getty Images)

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“This didn’t reflect the people and families that make up the Territory and directly discriminated against same-sex couples and unmarried couples,” added Cotton.

The Northern Territory’s move comes as Australia continues to struggle towards equality.

Earlier this month, lesbian couple Jessica Boyd and Liz Williams attacked the country’s government for only offering child passport forms with “mother” and “father” options.

TOPSHOT - American Gordon Lake (L) and his Spanish husband Manuel Valero (R) play with their daughter Carmen after a hearing at The Central Juvenile and Family Court in Bangkok on March 30, 2016. A foreign same-sex couple battling a local Thai surrogate for custody over their infant daughter said on March 30 their lives had been "destroyed" by the 14-month legal war that has prevented their family from returning home. Manuel Valero, from Spain, and his American husband Gordon Lake were blocked from leaving Thailand with their daughter Carmen after the surrogate refused to sign necessary paperwork following the birth last January. / AFP / LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA (Photo credit should read LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP/Getty Images)

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“As a government institution, I am just baffled they don’t at the very least update the text on the online form to ‘Parent 1’ and ‘Parent 2’, or something like that, as that is so easy to do,” Boyd said.

“It’s lazy homophobia. She acted like it wasn’t a big deal on the phone… It doesn’t seem like a big deal to them, because nobody has stood up and told them it’s offensive.”

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