Street address:
Level 1, 45 Wakefield Street
Adelaide SA 5000
Postal address:
GPO Box 292
Adelaide SA 5001
Phone: 8207 0060
Fax: 8207 0066
Email: adoptions@dfc.sa.gov.au

Home » Families and young people » Adoption » Past adoption

The Department for Families and Communities (DFC) is now the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion (DCSI). Families SA, including the child protection and family support functions, is now part of the new Department for Education and Child Development. Youth Justice remains with DCSI and the Department now includes Multicultural SA, Northern Connections, Office for the Southern Suburbs, Office for Volunteers, Office for Women, Office for Youth and Social Inclusion. Contact details for these offices are available on the Contacts page.

The department is currently reviewing its online information and updates are in progress. Departmental information can still be found using the search function on this site. For more information about South Australian government services please visit www.sa.gov.au.

Receiving adoption information

Last Updated Nov 2008

When your information is ready we will write to you and ask you how you would like to receive it. You can:

Have it posted to you.
Receive it over the telephone and then have it posted to you.
Come into our office for an appointment with a social worker, who can talk to you about it.
Give permission for it to be given to another person (eg a counsellor or friend), who can support you when you receive it.

What if some of the information is difficult to hear about?

Sometimes adoption information contains details that are quite sensitive. Sometimes the way the information was recorded needs some explanation or clarification and it could be confusing if no explanation is given.

In some cases there may be information on file that another party has died or our records may show that there are complex family relationships, such as other siblings or half-siblings who were also adopted. In these cases it is often helpful to discuss it with you over the phone or in person, rather than having you receive it by post.

We will try and help you understand what the information means and provide you with details of how best to find help and support if you need it.

What if there is a veto on my adoption information?

We will let you know as soon as possible if there is a restriction placed on the release of the information you are seeking. If there is a veto in place, non-identifying information may still be released to you. If the party who placed the veto left a message or some explanation about their reason for placing the veto we can also pass that on to you.