Beyond the Nuclear: Same-sex adoption - Victorian in name and approach

I've lived in England now for almost sixteen years but still get a swell of nationalistic pride when we take our lead here from Australian family justice reforms.  Silly I know but there it is.  And there is no shortage of examples going back decades:  the principle of administratively assessed and enforced child maintenance; the concepts of "residence" "contact" and "parental responsibility"; compulsory mediation information sessions at the outset of litigation.  The list goes on...

But there are some aspects of Australian family justice that are less laudable.  One such area is adoption in my home State of Victoria - for constitutional reasons each State is free to legislate on child protection questions (like adoption). 

As recently as August 2010 Australian media outlets were reporting on the adoption of a child by one of his gay foster parents.  What made the case newsworthy was that the adoption order was believed to be the first in Victoria in favour of a gay parent. 

Read the full article here.