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Adopt a child from an overseas program

The number placement of children though overseas adoption programs is comparatively rare.

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In 2004-2005 434 children were adopted by Australians through overseas adoption programs. This number has steadily been declining and in 2019-2020 only 29 children were adopted across Australia. Today the number placement of children though overseas adoption programs is comparatively rare.

Applying to adopt locally and overseas

You can be approved to adopt locally and from overseas at the same time.

If you are approved to adopt from overseas

All people who are approved to adopt from an overseas partner country are also approved to adopt a child placed for adoption in Victoria. Once you are approved to adopt you can nominate whether you want to also be considered for a Victorian child.

If you are already approved to adopt locally

If you are approved to adopt a Victorian child, and meet the overseas country program eligibility, you can later apply to adopt from overseas. If you were previously approved by an approved adoption agency, we will seek your consent to access all information about any assessment and training you have undertaken. Generally, this will inform the process for approving you to adopt.

Please note that even if you are already approved to adopt a Victorian child, you will need to pay all fees associated with intercountry adoption.

Families being sought

The characteristics of families being sought for the adoption of children from overseas is determined by the overseas program. They usually include the following characteristics.

1. Readiness to adopt

You are capable of receiving a child in your home.

Making sure you are ready to adopt means considering the needs of any children already in your family, especially infants. It also means considering plans you may have for fertility treatment, surrogacy or pregnancy.

Children who require adoption often have additional needs that need to be supported.

2. Capability to parent children with a range of additional needs

Children who require adoption often have additional needs that need to be supported.

These include:

3. Commitment to open adoption

Open adoption supports ongoing contact between an adopted person and their birth and adoptive families.

When a child is adopted from overseas it is less common for children to have direct contact with birth family, though this does sometimes occur.

Open adoption recognises the benefit for children to retain a close connection to their culture and be supported have access to information about their history.

An open attitude to adoption gives children the opportunity to talk about their life story and birth family. It helps them to value and accept their own history and experience.

How to adopt from overseas

Open all

Each overseas program has different requirements of applicants, profiles of children, fees and processes.

You can find out more about each program from Intercountry Adoption Australia. In order to adopt from these programs, you need to be approved by Adoption Victoria and your application will then be sent to that program.

Learn about adoption and the application process in Victoria by reading our website and information kit.

You can register your interest to adopt a child by completing the Adoption Victoria questionnaire.

Adoption Victoria - questionnaire for Intercountry Adoption Only Word 245.55 KB (opens in a new window)

This questionnaire covers a range of questions aimed at identifying your:

To register:

  1. read the above information kit and expression of interest fact sheet to understand the details of Victorian requirements for adoption
  2. complete the questionnaire
  3. send it to adoptionsvic@justice.vic.gov.au. Before submitting your registration of interest, please check you meet the Victorian requirements.

Once we receive the completed document, we will send you an electronic receipt.

A worker is then allocated to review and decide on the eligibility and suitability of the family.

Overseas programs do not continuously accept applications to adopt.

When we receive your application, we will consider when the overseas country is likely to be accepting applications as well as the profile of children in that country for whom families are being sought.

Before being assessed as suitable to adopt, you will need to attend education and complete a detailed application.

The application includes but is not limited to:

A case manager will meet with you to prepare an assessment report.

We assess your application against requirements outlined in the Adoption Act 1984 and Adoption Regulations 2019 and take into consideration the needs of children requiring adoption.

We also assess your application against requirements of the overseas country. This may include:

Approval is a formal process under the Adoption Act 1984.

The Act requires that approved people are placed on a register. This register is used to match families with children requiring adoption.

If your family is approved, your file is ready to be sent to the overseas program. Usually it is sent immediately, but sometimes the overseas program will require the file to be held until they are ready to accept it.

It is rare that a family is matched with a child very soon after the family is approved to adopt. Usually, approved families continue to work with Adoption Victoria after approval. They prepare for the challenges of bringing an adopted child into their family. Many families develop capacity to provide for a wider variety of children during this time.

More information about the adoption process

Age limit

There is no age limit to apply to adopt, but you should be fit and healthy enough to care for a child through to adulthood.

For intercountry adoption, the overseas country programs set their own requirements relating to the age of applicants.

Learn more about adopting a child from overseas

Adopt a child from overseas

Adoption from another country is only considered when a country has exhausted all options to care for a child.

Adopt a child you know from overseas

Adopting a child that is your relative or that you know that is living overseas or through an overseas partner program.

Updated 16 December 2025

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