Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I move amendment No. 21:

In page 30, subsection (4)(a), line 26, to delete "21" and substitute "18".

The age of 21 is inserted in section 33 as the youngest age at which a person may be considered as an adoptive parent in a domestic or intercountry adoption. It struck me as discriminatory towards younger people. I do not know why 18 years cannot be the age. In practice, it is unlikely that anyone of 18, 19, 20, 21 or 22 years of age will seek to adopt, but I do not understand 21 years as the lower age limit, particularly given the fact that we do not have an upper age limit. Adoption practice is to have a de facto upper age beyond which people cannot adopt, although other Senators know more about this than me. Why should we set a de jure lower age that is above the age of majority? Obviously, 18 years should be the lowest age and I am not proposing a reduction. We have changed 21 years of age for 18 years of age in most other laws.