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Aboriginal child. The Aboriginal agency must be consulted before any placement of anAboriginal child, even when the proposed adoptive parents are Aboriginal (something leftopen by the Act). Finally, the policy makes clear that the Aboriginal agency has a right ofveto over the proposed adoption of an Aboriginal child by non-Aboriginal applicants.Numbers and effectsThe following table summarises the data available on the adoption of Indigenouschildren in each State and Territory during the 1990s. In the five year period at least 60Indigenous children were adopted (full SA figures are not available). One in every threeof these children was adopted by a non-Indigenous family.Adoptions of Indigenous children between 1 July 1990 and 30 June 1995State Number of children Adoptive familiesNSW 35 16 to non-Indigenous families + 1to an unknown family (ie ethnicityunknown)Victoria 0WA 7 1 to a non-Indigenous familyQueensland* 15 1 to a non-Indigenous familySA ? 1 to a non-Indigenous familyNT 3 1 to a non-Indigenous familyTasmania 0ACT 0Source: NSW Law Reform Commission Research Report ‘Aboriginal Child Placement Principle’1997, Appendix L.*Queensland data supplied to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows 14 adoptions ofIndigenous children only eight of whom were adopted by Indigenous families. However, Queenslandstates the information in the table is more reliable.The reason for placement with non-Indigenous families is known for only four ofthe 16 NSW adoptees so placed. All four were State wards. The Aboriginality of two ofthe children was only traced late in the adoption process and their placement with non-Indigenous families followed consultation with Aboriginal workers. The other two wereaged 16 and 18 years respectively, chose not to identify as Aboriginal and consented totheir own adoptions (NSW Law Reform Commission 1997). The birth parent(s) of theSouth Australian child adopted into a non-Indigenous family consented to the adoption.The Queensland child was placed with a non-Aboriginal family at the request of theAboriginal birth mother who has continuing contact with her child (NSW Law ReformCommission 1997).In 1994-95 alone, 12 Indigenous children were adopted by non-relatives. Five ofthese children were adopted by non-Indigenous people. One non-Indigenous child was