Adoption Law Reform

Aotearoa New Zealand's main adoption law, the Adoption Act 1955, no longer meets the needs of our society or reflects modern adoption best practice.

The aim of the reform is to create a new system that protects the rights, best interests and welfare of children, upholds our Tiriti o Waitangi obligations, and upholds our international human rights obligations. We want to put tamariki, our children, at the heart of our adoption laws.

The Ministry of Justice sought the views of the public and those affected by adoption through two rounds of engagement in 2021 and 2022, to guide the development of proposals for creating a new adoption system.

The Ministry has been using feedback from both rounds of engagement to refine adoption policy proposals.

Targeted reforms of the international adoption system

The Ministry has been asked to work with responsible agencies and to provide Justice Ministers with advice on options to strengthen legislative safeguards in New Zealand’s international adoption system in order to address the ongoing risks of harm to children and young people.

The Associate Minister of Justice, Hon Nicole McKee, has indicated she intends to make legislative change this parliamentary term.

In order to progress key Government priorities in the Justice portfolio while prioritising reform of international adoption pathways, work on domestic adoption law reform remains paused at this time.

Public engagement has concluded

The second round of engagement on the options for reform ended in August 2022. The Ministry would like to thank all those who made submissions and talked to us, either face-to-face or online.

You can find out about the second round of engagement and the feedback we received, including the second discussion document A new adoption system for Aotearoa New Zealand and Adoption law reform: Summary of feedback on 2022 engagement here:

Second round of engagement in 2022

You can find out about last year’s first round of engagement here, including the first discussion document Adoption in Aotearoa New Zealand and the two summaries of feedback: Summary of submissions from engagement and Targeted Engagement: Adoption law reform report here:

First round of engagement in 2021

Whāngai:

The National Iwi Chairs Forum Pou Tikanga, in collaboration with Ināia Tonu Nei(external link), held a Māori-led wānanga on whāngai in August 2022. The wānanga sought Māori views on whether there needs to be changes to the way the law treats whāngai and, if so, what the process for making those changes should look like.

Thank you to all who attended and shared their views. The general view at the wānanga was that further work on whāngai should be separate to adoption reform and led by Māori. The Ministry therefore is not progressing work to provide specific legal recognition of whāngai at present.

Surrogacy:

Te Aka Matua o te Ture | the Law Commission(external link) recently completed its review of surrogacy laws. In its report, Te Kōpū Whāngai: He Arotake | Review of Surrogacy(external link), the Law Commission has recommended creating new processes for establishing legal parenthood in surrogacy arrangements. The Government will be considering the Law Commission’s recommendations for reforming surrogacy laws separately.

Current state of New Zealand's adoption laws

New Zealand’s adoption laws are in three pieces of legislation: