Queensland Consolidated Acts

ADOPTION ACT 2009 - SECT 271

271 Contact statement obligations

(1) This section applies if—

(a) a person (the
"applicant" ) asks the chief executive, under division 3 , for information about another person (the
"second person" ) who is an adopted person or a birth parent of an adopted person; and

(b) the second person has given the chief executive a contact statement concerning contact with the applicant.

(2) Before giving any of the requested information to the applicant, the chief executive must pass on the contents of the contact statement to the applicant.

(3) If the contact statement is that the second person does not wish to be contacted by the applicant, the chief executive must not give any of the requested information about the second person to the applicant unless a qualified officer speaks with the applicant, in person or by telephone, to—

(a) advise of the second person’s wish not to be contacted; and

(b) pass on—

(i) the explanation for the second person’s wish not to be contacted (except to the extent that the chief executive knows the second person does not want the explanation to be passed on); or

(ii) if the chief executive is not aware of the explanation—the reasons that are typically given by persons who do not wish to be contacted.

(4) If the chief executive considers it appropriate, the chief executive may delay giving the applicant the requested information for the reasonable period required for the chief executive to—

(a) advise the second person that the applicant has asked the chief executive for the information; and

(b) offer the second person an opportunity to give the chief executive information, or further information, about why the second person does not wish to be contacted by the applicant; and

(c) if information is given under paragraph (b) , pass it on to the applicant to help the applicant better understand the second person’s wishes about contact.

(5) The chief executive may offer the applicant or second person other information, counselling or support that the chief executive considers appropriate (before or after the chief executive discloses the information).

(6) In this section—

"qualified officer" means an officer of the department who the chief executive is satisfied has appropriate qualifications or experience to carry out interviews under this section.

"telephone" includes any technology allowing reasonably contemporaneous and continuous communication between 2 or more persons.