This site will look much better in a standards compliant browser.
South Australian Government logo. Link to Government Ministers' web site. Department for Communities and Social Inclusion logo. Link to department web site.
 
Quick links for:
Topics
Quick links for:
In this section
Contacts

Adoption and Family Information Service (AFIS)

Last Updated Mar 2012

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 » Searching for birth relatives
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.

 

Searching for birth relatives

Last Updated Nov 2008

Step 1 - Before you search

The adoption information you received from us is a good starting point in your search for birth relatives. If you have not yet applied for adoption information, see Past adoption for more detail about how to do this.

Once you have applied for your adoption information, provided there is no veto in place, we will prepare a package of information for you that contains documents (ie identiying information sheets and authorisation forms) that will enable you to search for your birth relative and to access certificates at the South Australian Births, Deaths and Marriages Registry.

Identifying information sheet

  • Birth parents - the name given to their child at adoption, as well as the names of the adoptive parents.
  • Adopted person - the name of their birth parent(s) at the time of relinquishment.
  • Adoptive parents - with the consent of the adopted person (unless they are deceased or cannot be located), the name of their adopted child's birth parent(s) at the time of relinquishment.

At the beginning of the search process you will then have the name of the person you are looking for and may have additional details such as partners' names, the States from which they came and so on. Many people are able to find the person they are looking for at this stage without needing to access birth, death or marriage certificates.

If you need some help with searching, you can contact us or the Post Adoption Support Service. There are also other search and support agencies available. See Past adoption support services and resources.

Also consider talking to a family member or good friend for support. It might also help to do some reading on adoption or have conversations with others in the same situation.

Be organised in your search

Some searches are quick and easy, others are not. Try to keep records of what you have already done and who you have contacted in your search so you don't waste time doing the same thing twice.

Think through your adoption information that you have received from us and what it might mean for all concerned. People who understand adoption from the point of view of the other parties to the adoption and who are clear about what they are searching for and what they hope the outcomes will be, often have more successful outcomes.

We gratefully acknowledges the Western Australian Family Information and Adoption Services' Manual on Search and Contact from which some of this information has been taken.

Step 1 - Before you search
Step 2 - Searching electoral rolls
Step 3 - Searching births, deaths, and marriages certificates