Supreme Court (Adoption) Rules 2015
S.R. No. 102/2015
table of provisions
Rule Page
Rule Page
Order 1—Preliminary 1
1 Title and object 1
2 Authorising provisions 1
3 Commencement and revocation 1
Order 2—Adoption 2
4 Application of Rules 2
5 Definitions 2
6 Application to be by originating summons—Form 1 2
7 Summons and notice of identification to be filed—Form 2 3
8 Service 3
9 Affidavit in support of application—Form 3 4
10 Affidavit in support under section 69A of the Act 7
11 Affidavit in support under section 69B of the Act 8
12 By whom affidavits sworn 9
13 Documents to be served on guardian 10
14 Filing of affidavits 10
15 Summons to dispense with consent—Forms4 and 5 11
16 Non-disclosure of applicant's name 12
17 Appointment of day for hearing 12
18 Service of summons and appointment of hearing 13
19 Affidavit of service 13
20 Production of child on application 13
21 Application for order changing guardianship—Forms6 and7 14
22 Service of copy of Rules as to duty of guardian 14
23 Investigations and reports 14
24 Information to be confidential 20
25 Presence of parties 20
26 As to previous unsuccessful applications 20
27 Where Secretary or principal officer is guardian 21
28 Notice of adjournment 21
29 Interim order—Form 8 21
30 Adoption order and certificate of adoption—Forms9 and10 21
31 Application to discharge adoption order—Form 11 21
32 Application to vary condition on adoption of child—Forms 12 and13 22
33 Application for guardianship of non-citizen child—Forms 14 and15 22
34 Application to restrict access of natural parent—Form16 23
35 Application for declaration as to foreign adoption—Forms 17 and18 23
36 Application under section 69H—Form 19 24
37 Application under section 69I—Forms 20 and 21 24
38 Application under section 69W—Forms 22 and 23 24
39 Application for information—Form 24 25
40 Application for a copy of birth certificate 25
41 Application for authority to publish identity of parties—Form25 25
42 Transfer of application from County Court to Supreme Court 25
43 Documents to be confidential 26
44 Form of documents 26
45 Enlargement or abridgment of time 26
46 Court may grant access to information 27
Form 1—Summons for Adoption Order 28
Form 2—Notice of identification 29
Form 3—Affidavit of applicants in support of application 30
Form 4—Summons to dispense with consent required under section33 of the Adoption Act1984 33
Form 5—Order dispensing with consent 34
Form 6—Summons to change guardianship of child 35
Form 7—Order changing guardianship of child 36
Form 8—Interim Order 37
Form 9—Adoption Order 39
Form 10—Certificate of adoption 40
Form 11—Application to discharge Adoption Order under section19(1) of the Adoption Act 1984 41
Form 12—Summons to vary Adoption Order to make Order subjectto condition 42
Form 13—Summons to vary or revoke condition attached to Adoption Order under section 59 of the Adoption Act1984 43
Form 14—Summons to appoint guardian of noncitizen child 44
Form 15—Order for guardianship of non-citizen child 45
Form 16—Summons to restrict access of a parent to a child 46
Form 17—Summons for declaration of recognition of foreign adoption 47
Form 18—Declaration of recognition of foreign adoption 48
Form 19—Summons for terminating legal relationship 49
Form 20—Summons for declaration under section 69I of the Adoption Act 1984 50
Form 21—Declaration under section 69I of the Adoption Act 1984 51
Form 22—Summons for declaration under section 69W of the Adoption Act 1984 52
Form 23—Declaration under section 69W of the Adoption Act 1984 53
Form 24—Application for information 54
Form 25—Application for authority to publish matter relating to identity of parties 55
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Endnotes 57
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Order 2—Adoption
Supreme Court (Adoption) Rules 2015
S.R. No. 102/2015
statutory rules 2015
S.R. No. 102/2015
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Order 2—Adoption
Supreme Court (Adoption) Rules 2015
S.R. No. 102/2015
Supreme Court Act 1986
Adoption Act 1984
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Order 2—Adoption
Supreme Court (Adoption) Rules 2015
S.R. No. 102/2015
Supreme Court (Adoption) Rules 2015
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Order 2—Adoption
Supreme Court (Adoption) Rules 2015
S.R. No. 102/2015
The Judges of the Supreme Court make the following Rules:
Order 1—Preliminary
1 Title and object
(1) These Rules constitute Chapter IV of the Rules of the Supreme Court and are entitled the Supreme Court (Adoption) Rules 2015.
(2) The object of these Rules is to re-make the Rules that constitute Chapter IV of the Rules of the Supreme Court regulating procedures in the Court in relation to adoption.
2 Authorising provisions
These Rules are made under section 25 of the Supreme Court Act 1986, section 6(2) of the Adoption Act 1984 and all other enabling powers.
3 Commencement and revocation
(1) These Rules come into operation on 26 October 2015.
(2) The Supreme Court (Adoption) Rules 2005[1] are revoked.
Order 2—Adoption
4 Application of Rules
Subject to this Order and so far as in each case they are applicable—
(a) Chapter I of the Rules of the Supreme Court for the time being in force and the general practice of the Supreme Court apply to proceedings in the Supreme Court under the Act; and
(b) the County Court Rules for the time being in force and the general practice of the County Court apply to proceedings in the County Court under the Act.
5 Definitions
In this Order—
applicant means the person or persons applying for an order under the Act;
Court means the Court to which an application under the Act is made;
Judge means a Judge of the court to which an application under the Act is made, whether the Supreme Court or the County Court;
Prothonotary means Prothonotary of the Supreme Court;
the Act means the Adoption Act 1984.
6 Application to be by originating summons—Form 1
(1) An application for an adoption order shall be made by originating summons in Form 1.
(2) The proposed adoptive parent or parents shall be the applicant or applicants and the Judge may direct any other person or any institution to be made a respondent.
7 Summons and notice of identification to be filed—Form 2
(1) The originating summons shall be filed in the Court immediately it is issued.
(2) A notice of identification of the child in Form2 shall be filed with the summons.
8 Service
(1) Unless on application the Judge directs otherwise, every originating summons required by this Order to be served shall be served personally.
(2) The respondent, within 21 days of being served with an originating summons, shall file in the Office of the Prothonotary or the Office of the Registrar of the County Court (as the case requires) a notice specifying an address within Victoria as the respondent's address for service where summonses, notices and other documents may be left for the respondent.
(3) Unless on application the Judge directs otherwise, every summons (other than an originating summons), notice or other document required by this Order to be served may be served—
(a) personally; or
(b) by being posted in a prepaid registered envelope addressed—
(i) to the person or institution to be served at the address for service of the person or institution; or
(ii) if the person or institution has not filed a notice specifying an address for service pursuant to paragraph (2), at the last known address of the person or institution.
(4) The service of every summons, notice or other document not served by the Court shall be verified by affidavit, unless the Judge directs otherwise.
(5) If the person to be served is a minor, service in accordance with this Rule shall be sufficient unless the Judge orders otherwise.
9 Affidavit in support of application—Form 3
An application for an adoption order shall be supported by evidence on affidavit in Form 3 which shall disclose—
(a) the age and sex of the applicants and of the child and their relationships (if any) to each other;
(b) the identity of the child so far as it is known to the applicants;
(c) the residence or domicile in Victoria of the applicants;
(d) the whereabouts of the child;
(e) particulars of any person with whom the child resides or who has the care and custody of the child;
(f) whether any and what proceedings have been brought or orders made by any court concerning the guardianship, care, custody or maintenance of, or access to the child, and shall have attached to it copies or certified extracts of any such orders, and if no such proceedings have been brought, a statement to that effect;
(g) where the applicants are married to each other, particulars of their marriage, including—
(i) the date of the marriage;
(ii) the name and address of the church or other place of the marriage ceremony;
(iii) if known, the name of the minister or other authorised person who performed the marriage ceremony;
(h) where the applicants are Aborigines, whether their relationship is recognized as a traditional marriage by an Aboriginal community or Aboriginal group to which they belong and whether it has been so recognized for two years or more;
(i) where the applicants are living together in a de facto relationship, whether they have been so living for two years or more and whether either is married;
(j) where the applicants have been living with each other in a combination of the relationships referred to in paragraphs (g), (h) and (i), particulars of the duration of each such relationship;
(k) where an applicant is married and the spouse is not an applicant, whether the applicant is living with the spouse and, if so, whether the spouse consents to the adoption order;
(l) where an applicant is living in a de facto relationship and the de facto spouse is not an applicant, whether the de facto spouse consents to the adoption order and whether the applicant or the de facto spouse is married;
(m) whether an applicant or the spouse of an applicant or the de facto spouse of an applicant is a relative of the child and, if so, how the applicant or spouse is related to the child;
(n) whether an applicant is a man who, under section 33(3) of the Act, is an appropriate person to give consent to the adoption of the child;
(o) where an applicant or the de facto spouse of an applicant has previously been married, particulars of each such marriage and of its termination (the affidavit to have attached to it a copy of any relevant certificate of death or decree absolute);
(p) the assets and income of the applicants;
(q) whether any applicant has any children or adopted children and if so the respective sexes and ages of those children;
(r) whether the child is a non-citizen child;
(s) where the child is a non-citizen child—
(i) whether the child has been in the care of the applicants for the preceding 12months;
(ii) whether the applicants were approved by the Secretary or by an authorized agency under section 51(1)(a) of the Act as suitable to adopt a non-citizen child before the child came into or was placed in the care of the applicants; and
(iii) whether the Secretary or an authorized agency has supervised the welfare and interests of the child during any period while the child was in the care of the applicants;
(t) whether, at any time before or after the birth of the child, any applicant or any other person to the best of any applicant's knowledge, information and belief has made, given or received or agreed to make, give or receive any, and if so what, payment or reward for or in consideration of—
(i) the adoption or proposed adoption of the child;
(ii) the giving of consent or the signing of an instrument of consent to the adoption of the child;
(iii) the transfer of the custody, care or control of the child with a view to the adoption of the child; or
(iv) the making of arrangements with a view to the adoption of the child;
(u) whether any and what insurance has been effected on the life of the child or for the benefit of the child;
(v) whether the applicant has made any previous application for the adoption of the child and whether any adoption order or other order under the Act or under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 or any corresponding previous enactment has previously been made in respect of the child; and
(w) any other matters necessary to support the application or to define any issues.
10 Affidavit in support under section 69A of the Act
(1) In addition to complying with Rule 9, an affidavit in support of an application under section 69A of the Act must comply with this Rule.
(2) The affidavit shall state—
(a) whether the deponent is habitually resident in a Convention country; and
(b) whether the child to be adopted is habitually resident in Victoria.
(3) The affidavit shall state the belief of the deponent, and the grounds for such belief, as to—
(a) whether the child to be adopted is prevented from leaving Australia—