Opposition senator Sophia Frazer Binns is calling for amendment to the country’s adoption legislation to improve the adoption process for children and families.

Making her contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate recently, she recalled the difficulty her mother faced in formalising the process years ago.

“Most persons in here know that I am a product of adoption and fostering and I always say it is because of Elsa May Binns why I am here today, and but for her… I don’t know where I would be. What I recall for the years that I lived with her, was the difficulty she faced in formalising the adoption,” Frazer Binns said.

“We really cannot continue with the Adoption Act as it is. For more than a decade I am told that it is being revised and for more than three decades, we have not done anything about it, and I think it is an injustice to families who want to adopt and to children who want to be adopted,” she added.

Frazer Binns pointed out that in a previously tabled motion on the matter, she had proposed for the establishment of a Joint Select Committee to review the legislation.

“I think it is time and not only am I calling for it, but I am also volunteering my service to assist where I can, because this is an area where I have a personal interest because as I said, I am a product of it,” she said.

The senator also appealed for the provision made by the Government for foster parents to be revised.

“We also appreciate that there are some persons, for various reasons, who can’t be adopted and so fostering is an option. Most people foster because they just want to help and they want a child to love; some of them want to give a home but can’t afford it. I know the Government makes a provision for some subvention to foster parents, but it is wholly inadequate,” she said.