Australia takes a stand on Indian adoption agencies

Updated September 2, 2008 20:48:14

The Australian government has frozen the possible adoption of children where there are doubts over the conduct of the Indian adoption agencies involved in the process. It follows claims of child trafficking where Indian children who have been abducted were then put up for adoption to unsuspecting Australian families.

Presenter: Michael Cavanagh
Speakers: Australia's Attorney General Robert McClelland; Australian Julia Rollings who has written a book about her experiences with India's adoption agencies.

CAVANAGH: Imagine after eight years of raising two children that you thought you had legally adopted from India only to find out that their birth father had sold them to a child trafficker for just over 40 US dollars who then through various means arranged for them to be adopted through what was thought to be a legitimate agency.

That was what confronted Julia Rollings from Australia's national capital Canberra back in 2006.

Her two children a brother and sister had been sold off by their father without their natural mother's knowledge.

Now several other cases where it is alleged that other children in India were kidnapped and then adopted by unsuspecting Australian families has led to the Australian government to act.

Two agencies the Malaysian Social Services and the Madras Social Service Guild at the centre of the original allegations -- although Robert McClelland says the last child adopted through these two was in 2000.

Robert McClelland says there agencies where there is doubt will not be allowed to deal with prospective Australian adoptive parents he says Australia is a signatory to the Hague Convention aimed at ending abduction, sale and trafficking of children.

India became a signatory in 2003 after the alleged abductions occurred.

MCCLELLAND: Australia has an international reputation for high standards with respect to our intercountry adoption programmes and only deals with those countries that meet the standards of the convention. This is the case even if they are not signatories to the convention itself.

CAVANAGH: While the investigations continue Mr McClelland says for the Australian and Indian families who have been caught up in the scheme will be provided support.

MCCLELLAND: The birth parents of the children may wish to establish contact however I am very aware that the Australian adoptive families need time and support to consider how to react to these allegations. These needs and most importantly the needs of the children must be taken into account when exploring any opportunities for adopted children to better understand their origins and explore their identity. Taking these considerations into account there could be opportunities for birth parents and willing adoptive parents of children to establish communication and the government will provide every assistance that is possible.

CAVANAGH: Julia Rollings says the support required has to be lot more than just a government agency stepping in.

ROLINGS: We had a trusted friend in India on the ground that spoke both languages that new our family that was able to act as mediator between our family and our children's family in India and she has continued that role today and it will continue into the future. If families didn't have access to that kind of mediation somebody that was culturally sensitive to the needs of both families it would be very very hard to establish a relationship with the family in India.

CAVANAGH: Mr McCelland says there will also be the opportunity for children when they become legal adults at the age of 18 to also have government support.

MCCLELLAND: This is a clearly a tragic set of circumstances for the parties and particularly for the children involved. In working to resolve these issues we must not lose sight of the best interests of the child and the need of course to be sensitive to the concerns of the Australian adoptive families and the birth families in India.

CAVANAGH: Since learning the true plight of her two children, Julia Rollings has ensured they have contact with their natural mother and she says she feels a moral responsibility to assist the birth family.

And she agrees with the Australian government's move to freeze contact with any agency where there is doubt..

ROLLINGS: Where there have been repeated allegations against specific agencies that we need to take a cautious approach and not deal with those particular agencies. There are plenty of very good honest agencies in India that are sincerely doing the best they can for children and I really would rather see our support go into those ones.