Find adoption records and birth relatives

Family Information Service

You can use the free Family Information Service to:

• get information about past adoptions and find relatives
• leave your contact details or a message on the Reunion Contact and Information Register
• make a contact veto to stop people involved in your adoption from contacting you (for adoptions that happened before 2010).

Check if you can get adoption records

You can apply to get identifying information about a past adoption if you are:

• the adopted person and 18 or older
• the adopted person, under 18 and have permission from your adoptive parent and each birth parent
• an adoptive parent
• a birth parent or relative of the adopted person
• a child or other descendant of the adopted person.

Information you can get

You might be able to get identifying or non-identifying information.

The type of information you can get will depend on the:

• current age of the adopted person
• contact wishes of people involved in the adoption
• birth year of the adopted child.

Identifying information

You can apply for this information if the adopted person is over 18:

• name
• age
• physical characteristics
• general information
• education
• occupation
• medical history.

Non-identifying information

You'll get some personal information, but you will not be able to identify the person.

Restrict access to your information

If you were involved in an adoption before 2010, you can make a contact veto to stop someone who was involved in your adoption from contacting you.

A contact veto does not stop someone getting information about you.

A contact veto can:

• apply to all people connected to your adoption or a selection
• last forever or for a specified time.

When you make a contact veto, you can leave a message with your reasons for not wanting to be contacted. We will give this message to people who ask for identifying information about you.

If someone applies for information about you

Before they can get identifying information about you, they must:

• attend a counselling session
• sign a declaration stating they will not try to contact you.

If they try to contact you (called breaching your contact veto) you can take legal action.

Make a contact veto

To make a Contact Veto in the ACT, contact the Family Information Service.

Leave your details or a message for a relative

The Reunion Contact and Information Register helps people who have been separated by an adoption to contact each another after the adopted child has turned 18.

You can put your name on the register and leave a message if you are:

• an adopted person
• birth parents
• adoptive parents
• birth and adoptive relatives.

If we find a match and the adopted child is 18 or older, we can:

• help connect you with relatives
• give you any messages left by people involved in the adoption.

Add your details to the Reunion Contact and Information Register

To add your details to the Reunion Contact and Information Register, contact the Family Information Service.

Support

You can call us for support or advice. We can also refer you to counselling services.

Contact us