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The Government is currently undertaking a review of Aotearoa New Zealand’s adoption laws. This review presents an opportunity to modernise all of our adoption laws, including the Adoption Act 1955, which hasn’t been substantially updated in 66 years. The Government is committed to ensuring the law aligns with New Zealand’s values and protect children’s rights. It is also committed to ensuring the law does not discriminate and meets our human rights obligations.
Adoption law reform will be guided by the following objectives:
The review will be led by Te Tāhū o te Ture - the Ministry of Justice, working closely with Oranga Tamariki and other relevant agencies.
Current state of New Zealand's adoption laws
Adoption is the process of transferring the legal rights and responsibilities toward tamariki from birth parents to adoptive parents. The adoption experience has significant and lifelong effects on the children involved.
New Zealand’s adoption laws sit across three pieces of legislation:
The Government will begin engagement in mid-2021
Public and targeted engagement will take place over three months in mid-2021. Further details will be provided on this webpage once the programme for consultation has been finalised.
Surrogacy Law Review
Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission is currently undertaking a review of surrogacy in Aotearoa New Zealand. As part of this review, the Commission will look at how the adoption process operates in surrogacy arrangements and consider whether there should be a different process for intending parents to become legal parents.
You can read more about the surrogacy review and sign up to receive updates at:
Te Kōpū Whāngai: He Arotake | Review of Surrogacy(external link)
Get in touch: Email adoptionlaw@justice.govt.nz