{"id":"F2023L00309","name":"Family Law (Bilateral Arrangements—Intercountry Adoption) Regulations 2023","slug":"family-law-bilateral-arrangements-intercountry-adoption-regulations-2023","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":441769,"registerId":"F2023L00309-fast-fetch-1775956988944","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Family Law (Bilateral Arrangements—Intercountry Adoption) Regulations 2023","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\nmeta-keywords: \"[SEC=OFFICIAL]\"\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nFamily Law (Bilateral Arrangements—Intercountry Adoption) Regulations 2023\n\nI, General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following regulations.\n\nDated 16 March 2023\n\nDavid Hurley\n\nGovernor‑General\n\nBy His Excellency’s Command\n\nAmanda Rishworth\n\nMinister for Social Services\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Definitions\n\n5 Prescribed overseas jurisdictions\n\nPart 2—International agreements about adoption\n\n6 Purpose and application of Part\n\n7 Recognition of an adoption of a child in a prescribed overseas jurisdiction\n\n8 Effect of recognition of an adoption\n\n9 Evidential value of adoption compliance certificate\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Family Law (Bilateral Arrangements—Intercountry Adoption) Regulations 2023.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument The day after this instrument is registered. 23 March 2023\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under the Family Law Act 1975.\n\n4  Definitions\n\n (1) In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Family Law Act 1975.\n\nadoption compliance certificate: see paragraph 7(1)(d).\n\nAustralian law means a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory.\n\nchild means an individual who has not reached 18 years.\n\ncompetent authority means:\n\n (a) for a prescribed overseas jurisdiction—a person, body or office in the overseas jurisdiction responsible for approving the adoption of children; or\n\n (b) for a State or Territory of Australia in which a person adopting a child habitually resides—a person, body or office in the State or Territory responsible for approving the adoption of children.\n\nparental responsibility, in relation to a child, has the same meaning as in section 61B of the Act.\n\n (2) A term that is used in both this instrument and section 111C of the Act has the same meaning in this instrument as in that section.\n\n5  Prescribed overseas jurisdictions\n\n  For the purposes of the definition of prescribed overseas jurisdiction in subsection 4(1) of the Act, the following overseas jurisdictions are declared to be a prescribed overseas jurisdiction for the purposes of section 111C of the Act and a provision of this instrument:\n\n (a) Republic of Korea;\n\n (b) Taiwan.\n\nPart 2—International agreements about adoption\n\n \n\n6  Purpose and application of Part\n\n (1) This Part is made for the purposes of subsection 111C(3) of the Act.\n\n (2) A provision of this Part does not apply to a State or Territory in which there is in force a law (an overseas jurisdiction adoption law) of the State or Territory that has the same effect that the provision would, except for this Part, have in relation to an adoption.\n\n (3) Nothing in this Part affects:\n\n (a) the jurisdiction of a court, or the power of an authority, under an overseas jurisdiction adoption law, to entertain proceedings, make an order or take any other action in relation to an adoption; or\n\n (b) any such order or action mentioned in paragraph (a); or\n\n (c) the operation, within a State or Territory, of an overseas jurisdiction adoption law of the State or Territory.\n\n7  Recognition of an adoption of a child in a prescribed overseas jurisdiction\n\n (1) This section applies to an adoption of a child in a prescribed overseas jurisdiction (including an adoption that took place in the overseas jurisdiction before it became a prescribed overseas jurisdiction) if:\n\n (a) at the time of the adoption, the child was habitually resident in the prescribed overseas jurisdiction; and\n\n (b) the adoption was by a person habitually resident in a State or Territory of Australia; and\n\n (c) the competent authority of the State or Territory has agreed that the adoption may proceed; and\n\n (d) a certificate (an adoption compliance certificate) is in force in relation to the adoption that:\n\n (i) was issued by a competent authority of the prescribed overseas jurisdiction; and\n\n (ii) states that the adoption was carried out in accordance with the laws of the prescribed overseas jurisdiction; and\n\n (e) the adoption has the effect of ending the legal relationship between the child and each person who was, immediately before the adoption, the child’s parent; and\n\n (f) a federal, State or Territory court has not made:\n\n (i) an adoption order in relation to the child; or\n\n (ii) an order recognising or declaring the adoption to be valid.\n\n (2) The adoption is recognised and effective, for the purposes of an Australian law, on and after the date of effect of the adoption.\n\n8  Effect of recognition of an adoption\n\n  Recognition of the adoption of a child includes the recognition, for the purposes of an Australian law, that:\n\n (a) the relationship between the child and each of the child’s adoptive parents is the relationship of child and parent; and\n\n (b) each adoptive parent of the child has parental responsibility for the child; and\n\n (c) the child has the same rights as a child who is adopted under the laws of a State or Territory of Australia.\n\n9  Evidential value of adoption compliance certificate\n\n  An adoption compliance certificate is evidence, for the purposes of an Australian law, that the adoption to which the certificate relates was carried out in accordance with the laws of the prescribed overseas jurisdiction whose competent authority issued the certificate.\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains a narrow, targeted scope consistent with its apparent original purpose. It implements a specific mechanism under section 111C of the Family Law Act 1975 for bilateral adoption arrangements with particular countries, and does not expand beyond this core function. The limitation to just two jurisdictions (South Korea and Taiwan) and the explicit preservation of state/territory jurisdiction in section 6(2)-(3) demonstrate restraint rather than scope creep."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument: only 9 sections across 2 Parts","Minimal defined terms: only 6 explicit definitions in section 4, plus 2 terms incorporated by reference from the Family Law Act 1975","Simple conditional structure: single-layer requirements in section 7(1) (a)-(f), with no nested exceptions","Limited cross-referencing: only references to section 111C and section 61B of the Family Law Act 1975, plus one reference to 'subsection 4(1) of the Act'","Narrow scope: applies to only 2 prescribed jurisdictions (Republic of Korea and Taiwan) explicitly listed in section 5","Clear operative provisions: sections 7-9 use direct, unambiguous language ('is recognised', 'includes', 'is evidence')"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument creates a streamlined federal pathway for recognising adoptions completed in South Korea and Taiwan so eligible overseas adoptions are treated as valid in Australia without separate Australian court proceedings. It primarily affects Australian adoptive parents, adopted children (who gain the same legal rights as domestic adoptions), and state/territory adoption authorities.\n\nIt matters because it removes costly, time‑consuming court steps—except where a state or territory’s own law already governs those adoptions."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument adds the Republic of Korea and Taiwan as 'prescribed overseas jurisdictions' for the purposes of section 111C of the Family Law Act, so adoptions from those jurisdictions can be recognised under Australian law (Reg 5). It limits application where State/Territory law already provides equivalent recognition and preserves State/Territory court and authority powers (Reg 6(2)–(3))."},"complexity_factors":["Narrow, targeted scope: only two prescribed overseas jurisdictions (Republic of Korea; Taiwan) (Reg 5).","Clear, conjunctive conditions for recognition—habitual residence of child and adopter, competent authority approval, adoption compliance certificate, termination of prior parental legal relationship, and no existing Australian adoption/order (Reg 7).","Direct legal effect once recognised: creates parent–child relationship, parental responsibility, and parity with domestic adoptions (Reg 8).","Evidential reliance on documents issued by overseas competent authorities (Reg 9), creating administrative reliance on foreign certification standards.","Interaction with State/Territory law: Part does not apply where a State/Territory law already produces the same effect; preserves local court/authority jurisdiction and existing orders (Reg 6(2)–(3)).","Low legislative complexity but potential practical complexity in verifying foreign certificates and determining whether an overseas proceeding or local order already exists (Regs 7(d)–(f), 6(3)).","Straightforward commencement and authority under the Family Law Act (Regs 2–3)."],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations make adoptions completed in the Republic of Korea or Taiwan automatically recognisable under Australian law if specific residency and procedural conditions are met and a competent authority issues an adoption compliance certificate. When recognised, the adoption creates the legal parent–child relationship and parental responsibility in Australia.\n\nThis matters for adoptive parents, adoptees, courts and agencies because it relies on overseas competent authorities and certificates, sets the legal effect in Australia, and defers where a State/Territory law already gives equivalent recognition."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/family-law-bilateral-arrangements-intercountry-adoption-regulations-2023","history":"/api/acts/family-law-bilateral-arrangements-intercountry-adoption-regulations-2023/history","analysis":"/api/acts/family-law-bilateral-arrangements-intercountry-adoption-regulations-2023/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/family-law-bilateral-arrangements-intercountry-adoption-regulations-2023/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/family-law-bilateral-arrangements-intercountry-adoption-regulations-2023/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/family-law-bilateral-arrangements-intercountry-adoption-regulations-2023/documents"}}