Adoptees will no longer pay to see their records

The state government will waive fees for parents and adopted children to access their personal records as it prepares to give an apology for the state’s role in the unlawful and unethical removal of children in thousands of forced adoptions.

Hundreds of women forced to give up their children and adoptees have registered to be in Parliament on Thursday when the Premier, Barry O’Farrell, makes a public apology for the removal of newborn babies from mostly young, single mothers during the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. A parliamentary inquiry in 2000 found the practices were not just unethical but also often illegal according to the laws of the time.

The Minister for Community Services, Pru Goward, said the government would waive the $135 fee from the Department of Community Services associated with accessing personal files. It would also increase funding to the Post Adoption Resource Centre– via redwolf.newsvine.com