The ACT Community Services Directorate received over 40 submissions from individuals and organisations in response to their 2018 discussion paper. These highlighted several overarching themes, including a view that the dispensing with consent provisions should prioritise children’s best interests. Feedback from the submissions is outlined in this report.

This Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study (POCLS) statistical report provides a summary of the data collected in the Caseworker Survey conducted as part of the POCLS. The purpose of this report is to provide a useful reference point for policy officers, frontline workers and researchers.

This paper examines the infants and toddlers in the POCLS sample who exited out-of-home care because they either went home to live with their parents (i.e. restoration), were placed with guardians, or because they were adopted.

This discussion paper aims to assist interested community members to contribute to the ACT Government’s exploration of provisions for dispensing with consent in the domestic adoption process.

Adoptions Australia 2017–18, the 28th report in the series, covers the latest data on adoptions of Australia children and children from overseas, and highlights important trends in the number of adoptions dating back to 1993–94.