Queensland back-tracks on cutting access to adoption information

The news

The state government is backtracking on a much-criticised decision that made it difficult for Queenslanders separated by adoption to reconnect with their families.

The Justice Department wrote to Jigsaw Queensland, a forced adoption support service provider, on Tuesday to confirm the reversal of its stance on access to information, based on “further advice”.

This came two months after what had been described as a privacy-related crackdown.

Jigsaw welcomed the change, but lamented the distress and confusion the situation had caused members of the community and called for the rights to be enshrined in law to ensure a similar scenario did not occur again.

Why it matters

Unexpectedly and without consultation, the government in early September changed how families separated by the state’s historical child-removal practices could access information to reunite, as first reported by this masthead.

The shift would include no longer allowing adopted people to trace family names changed through marriage without written parental consent.

Jigsaw president Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow said it was the most regressive move in three decades.

She also accused the government of failing to meaningfully act on the concerns after receiving lacklustre responses – or no response at all – until this masthead posed further questions last week.

The Families Department, along with ministers Deb Frecklington and Amanda Camm, had justified the change under a new legal interpretation, but did not provide a specific catalyst for this or outline whether other options were considered.

What they said

In the letter to Jigsaw, Justice Department director-general Sarah Cruickshank said agencies within the Families Department had obtained more advice about the interaction between relevant laws and “clarified” what information could be released.

“There is also scope for [the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages] to exercise its discretion under the information access framework,” Cruickshank wrote.

“This discretionary power will enable RBDM to reinstate its longstanding information release practices … such as parents’ birth, marriage and death entries.

“I acknowledge there have been deficiencies in how this issue has been managed across both agencies, and that the practice change, and how it was communicated, has caused significant distress to your clients and yourselves personally.”

Another perspective

Sparrow told this masthead Jigsaw was relieved about the reinstatement of the practice, but “we wish this issue had been handled more swiftly and with greater care and transparency, given the significant distress and confusion it has caused”.

“Jigsaw Queensland will be making a submission to the current Commission of Inquiry into the Queensland Child Protection System and the Review of the Adoption Act 2009,” she said.

“We will call for these information rights to be enshrined in legislation so that future generations are protected and no Queenslander impacted by adoption ever has to endure such an experience again.”

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.