This petition supports a submission to the Tasmanian Parliament proposing that the Historical Forced Adoption Redress Scheme be expanded so that people who were adopted through these practices are also eligible for recognition, financial redress, and support services.

Justice for adoptees.

People adopted through historical forced adoption practices in Tasmania are not eligible for compensation under the current redress scheme.

A petition is calling on Parliament to expand the scheme so adoptees are recognised alongside mothers.

Full submission can be found here:  https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1a62exxyb96ek6aqwqp32/Submission-Adoption-Redress-Scheme.pdf?rlkey=szfh3vem60g7sc3u4iuxcpa7g&st=hna2eu5s&dl=0

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To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly of Tasmania

The Petition of the undersigned draws to the attention of the House that:

Historical forced adoption practices occurred across Australia, including Tasmania, primarily between the 1950s and early 1980s. These practices involved the separation of infants from their mothers under circumstances that are now widely acknowledged to have caused significant and lifelong harm.

In 2013 the Commonwealth Parliament issued a National Apology for Forced Adoptions, recognising the profound trauma experienced by mothers, children and families affected by these practices.

The Tasmanian Government has established the Historical Forced Adoption Redress Scheme to provide financial redress and support services to mothers whose children were removed through these practices.

However, individuals who were adopted as infants through historical forced adoption practices are not currently eligible for direct financial redress under the scheme, despite substantial evidence demonstrating that adoptees also experienced significant lifelong impacts including loss of identity, psychological trauma, disrupted family relationships and intergenerational effects.

Research and parliamentary inquiries have consistently recognised that the consequences of historical forced adoption practices were experienced not only by mothers but also by the children who were removed.

Providing recognition and redress to adoptees would ensure that the Tasmanian redress framework acknowledges the full scope of harm caused by historical forced adoption practices and supports equitable treatment of all those directly affected.

 
We therefore ask the House to:

Expand the Tasmanian Historical Forced Adoption Redress Scheme to include individuals who were adopted through historical forced adoption practices.

Provide direct financial redress payments to eligible adoptees in recognition of the lifelong impacts of forced separation.

Ensure adoptees have access to trauma-informed counselling, identity support services, and assistance accessing historical adoption records.

Establish a co-design process involving adoptees and mothers to guide the development of the expanded scheme.
 
And your petitioners therefore request that the House give this matter urgent consideration.