The debate on adoption policy in Australia has reignited, following a new report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) showing adoption rates are the lowest on record.
The report details only 292 children had been adopted in the past financial year, an 8 per cent fall from the previous year.
Nearly three quarters of the children adopted were from Australia (72 per cent), while the remaining 28 per cent were adopted overseas.
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The figures mark a 74 per cent drop in the rate of adoption since 1991.
Social Services Minister Christian Porter has called for an overhaul of current policy, saying too many children are in foster care, a situation he says is fruitless in the effort to reunite them with their families.
"The problem is not an unwillingness of great Australian families to adopt children who are in need of adoption,” Mr Porter told the ABC.
"The problem appears to be occurring at the point where we're making the decision as to whether or not a particular child in a particular set of circumstances should be able to be adopted."
"The problem appears to be occurring at the point where we're making the decision as to whether or not a particular child in a particular set of circumstances should be able to be adopted."
"I don't see that that balance is perfect at the moment and I think there probably is, in a variety of instances, an over-emphasis placed on the notion that family reunification should occur at all or great cost, and there are circumstances where that just can't be rationally achieved," he said.
Minister Porter singled out NSW as having implemented the “best practice” for adoption reforms.
Jane Hunt, the chief executive of child welfare group Adopt Change, agrees the latest figures highlight the need for reform.
"Adopt Change believes every child has a right to a family, and supports adoption as one way in which permanent, modern families may be formed," she said.
"The findings are not good enough and we must continue to advocate for ethical adoption reform in Australia."
Meanwhile Indigenous Elder Albert Hartnett, a member of advocacy group Grandmothers Against Removals, believes a program should be in place to return young Aboriginal children back home.
"Many Indigenous children are being placed into non-Indigenous families, and they are losing their identity," Mr Hartnett told SBS.
"Many Indigenous children are being placed into non-Indigenous families, and they are losing their identity"
"They should be able to interact with their family, they should be able to interact with their community, and they should certainly be able to explore and experience their culture.
"We are seeing the effects of cultural genocide."
Australian adoptions plummet to new low
Annual figures from the Australian national welfare body have shown adoptions are at record lows across the country.
Almost 1,000 fewer children are adopted in Australia each year compared to 25 years ago.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's annual report into adoptions found the overall number of finalised adoptions in Australia is at a record low, with just 292 occurring in the 2014-15 period.
This is an eight per cent drop on the previous year, and a 74 per cent drop on 1990.
Almost three in ten adoptions were of children from other countries.
