The Search for Family: A Social and Political History of Adoption in Australia
A four-year national research project funded by the Australian Research Council
This national history of adoption in Australia seeks to discover the distinctive ways in which adoption has reflected and shaped family ideals within Australian settler society; to influence the making of future policy and practice on adoption; to bring into history the stories of people whose lives have been changed by adoption, in order to acknowledge that experience and to read it against policy change; and to assess and explain the historical outcomes of adoption in Australia, an enterprise significant both for academic knowledge, the making of policy and the understanding of the wider Australian community.
This study will fill a significant gap in the nation’s self-understanding by explaining the historical factors driving the changing place, meaning and significance of adoption. Whilst participants and practitioners debate its social worth, the policy pendulum is swinging back to an acceptance of adoption. Australian society is in urgent need of an open hearing of the contesting voices, and a balanced account of the historical impact of adoption.
In telling the history of adoption in Australia, the researchers will employ a range of methods and approaches to gathering data and stories. These include:
• Archival and documentary research
• Collection of oral histories by interview and contributions to a project webpage
• Research into government, professional, media, fictional and other representations of adoption
The research team is keen to hear from individuals and organisations involved in adoption in Australia, past and present, who would like to participate in and/or contribute materials to this study.
Contact us:
The research team can be contacted at: arts-historyofadoption@monash.edu