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One-stop shop for adoptions

The government is making it easier for Australians to adopt children from overseas.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said it would create a one-stop-shop – the Intercountry Adoption Support Service – to help Australian families work through what can be a long, frustrating and painful process.

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“For too long adoption has been in the too-hard basket, for too long it has been too hard to adopt and for too long this has been a policy no-go zone. It shouldn’t be that way because adoption is all about giving children a better life,” he said in a statement.

Under the new regime, prospective families will be able to call a dedicated 1800 help line and access a special website.

Trained staff will advocate on their behalf, dealing with state authorities and partner countries. Families will be able to get direct referrals to the people they need to talk to.

Mr Abbott said the plan included funding for family support services to provide much needed help to parents and families involved in adoption.

He said states and territories would continue to assess eligibility of those who wanted to adopt.

The new service will be up and running as soon as April.

“There are millions of children in overseas orphanages who would dearly love to have parents. There are thousands of Australians who would dearly love to help those kids have a family,” he said.

Under current arrangements, parents would have to wait up to five years to navigate overseas adoption processes.

There were just 317 adoptions finalised in Australia in 2013-14, both domestic and international. That was the lowest number on record, a fall of nine per cent from 2012-13 and 76 per cent lower than 1989-90.

The Government believes this is not good enough.

“The new service will cut the waiting time while maintaining safeguards,” Mr Abbott said.

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