Florens Florens Integrative Family Law
Expertise

Adoption

Adoption permanently changes a child’s legal parentage. We help families understand whether adoption is the right path, and what alternatives might better suit the child.

Start with a free 20-minute discovery call. Meetings across Australia, in person or online.

Sophie Pettigrew listening to a client

Adoption is governed by state and territory laws. In Queensland, it is regulated by the Adoption Act 2009.

The most common enquiries we receive are about step-parent adoption, where a parent’s new partner wishes to adopt their child.

Because adoption ends the legal relationship between a child and a birth parent, courts take great care. Parenting orders can often give security without that permanent change.

A father reading a picture book with his young daughter

Alternatives to adoption

Parenting orders can give a step-parent, grandparent or other carer parental responsibility and the right to live with a child, without ending the child’s legal relationship with their birth parent.

We help you weigh up the options so you choose the path that is best for the child.

Parental responsibility

How we can assist

Clear advice on adoption and the alternatives.

Adoption laws differ between states and territories. We will advise you on the law that applies to your family.

How we help

Careful advice about a permanent decision.

Call 1300 739 954
  1. Understand your family

    The child’s history, relationships and needs.

  2. Compare the options

    Adoption, parenting orders or other arrangements.

  3. Check eligibility

    Whether the legal requirements can be met.

  4. Prepare the application

    Gathering evidence and consents.

  5. Final orders

    The court decides whether adoption is in the child’s best interests.

“Highly recommend. From our very first discussion I felt supported and confident in the firm’s ability. The experience and commitment throughout this very stressful process was amazing. Everything was explained clearly and handled with respect.”

Client

Considering adoption?

Talk to us about the process and the alternatives.

What the court considers

Adoption is only made where it is in the child’s best interests.

The child’s wellbeing

Their safety, stability and long-term interests.

Identity

The importance of the child’s connection to their birth family and culture.

Alternatives

Whether another order would better serve the child.

Common questions about adoption

Can a step-parent adopt a child?

In some circumstances, yes. There are requirements about the child’s age, the relationship and consents.

Does the other birth parent have to consent?

Usually, yes, unless the court decides consent can be dispensed with in limited circumstances.

Is adoption the only way to give a step-parent rights?

No. Parenting orders can give a step-parent parental responsibility without ending the child’s relationship with the birth parent.

Can adoption be reversed?

Adoption is intended to be permanent. Discharge is only possible in very limited circumstances.

Do adoption laws differ between states?

Yes. Each state and territory has its own adoption laws.

Security for the children you love.

Talk to us about adoption and the alternatives that could work for your family.

Privacy

Privacy policy

Updated October 2026

SJ Law Pty Ltd trading as Florens Family Law (“Florens Family Law”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, store and protect your personal information, and how you can access or correct it.

We are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). As solicitors, we also owe you duties of confidentiality and protect legal professional privilege. A copy of the APPs is available from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au.

What personal information we collect

Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. Depending on your matter, we may collect:

How we collect it

Where reasonable and practicable, we collect personal information directly from you, in meetings, phone and video calls, emails, forms and through our website.

We may also receive information from others where this is needed for your matter, including the other party or their lawyers, courts, barristers, expert witnesses, family report writers, mediators, financial institutions, government agencies and other professionals you have authorised us to contact. If we receive information about you from someone else, we will take reasonable steps to let you know.

Family law matters often involve information about people who are not our clients. We handle that information with the same care, and only for the purposes of the matter.

Why we collect, use and hold it

If you choose not to provide information we reasonably need, we may not be able to act for you.

We only use sensitive information for the purpose it was provided, for a directly related purpose you would reasonably expect, with your consent, or where required or authorised by law.

When we disclose it

Subject to our professional obligations, we may disclose personal information:

We do not sell personal information.

AI-assisted tools

We use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help us work efficiently, for example to draft and review documents, summarise material, assist with research and transcribe meetings. These tools support our lawyers. They do not replace legal judgement.

Overseas recipients

Some of our service providers may store information on servers outside Australia. Where that happens, we take reasonable steps to make sure your information is protected in a way consistent with the APPs. Otherwise, we will only send your personal information overseas with your consent, where it is needed for your matter (for example, where there are overseas assets or an international parenting issue), or where required by law.

Marketing and communications

From time to time, we may send you information about our services, insights and events, or promotional material from our trusted referrers or related entities within the Florens Group. We only use your contact details for this, never information about your matter, and we do not pass your details to other organisations for their own marketing. You are welcome to opt out at any time, by using the unsubscribe link in any of our emails or by letting us know.

Our website

When you use our website or enquiry forms, we collect the details you choose to give us. Our website may also use cookies and analytics tools to understand how the site is used, such as which pages are visited. This information does not identify you, and you can turn cookies off in your browser settings.

How we store and protect it

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. This includes secure electronic systems with access controls and multi-factor authentication, and secure storage of any paper records.

We keep client files for at least seven years after a matter ends, or longer where the law or the nature of the matter requires. After that, we securely destroy or de-identify the information.

If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

Accessing and correcting your information

We take reasonable steps to keep your personal information accurate, complete and up to date. Please let us know if anything changes or is incorrect.

You can ask to access the personal information we hold about you by contacting us in writing. We may need to confirm your identity first. There is no fee to make a request, but we may charge a reasonable fee for providing copies.

In limited circumstances permitted by the APPs, we may refuse access, for example where it would unreasonably affect another person’s privacy, where the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings, or where giving access would be unlawful. If we refuse, we will explain why in writing.

Questions and complaints

If you have a question or complaint about how we handle your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer:

Florens Family Law
reception@florens.com.au
1300 739 954

We will aim to respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on 1300 363 992 or at www.oaic.gov.au.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is always available on our website.

Website disclaimer

The information on this website is general in nature and is not legal advice. Family law outcomes depend on individual circumstances, so please get advice about your own situation before acting on anything you read here. We aim to keep content current, but we cannot guarantee it is accurate or complete at the time you read it.

Using this website, or contacting us through it or by email, does not create a solicitor-client relationship. That relationship begins only once we have confirmed in writing that we will act for you. Please do not send confidential or sensitive documents until we have confirmed that we can act for you.

Links to other websites are provided for convenience. We are not responsible for their content or their privacy practices.

To the extent permitted by law, we exclude liability for any loss arising from use of this website or its content. Liability limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation.