Forgotten Children: The State’s Role In Forced Adoption and the Oversight in Whanaketia

Abstract

The release of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care’s report, Whanaketia, represents an incomplete picture by excluding children who were survivors of forced adoption. Though they were excluded on the basis they were not abused in state care, the state’s direct involvement through legislation, policies and institutions during the Baby Scoop Era set the foundation for forced adoption, causing harm similar to that experienced by other survivors in the Inquiry. Their exclusion highlights a significant oversight by the Royal Commission, especially given that the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference allowed for their inclusion. Not only does this directly harm children of forced adoption, but it has wider societal consequences by leaving the Adoption Act 1955 unchallenged and entrenched in the Baby Scoop Era.

This paper evaluates the state tools during the Baby Scoop Era that facilitated forced adoption practices, arguing this necessitated the inclusion of these children in the Inquiry. It explores the recent release of Whanaketia and the harms suffered by both children of forced adoption and included survivors, highlighting their similarity. A subsequent investigation of the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference indicates that children of forced adoption could have been included, and their exclusion violates the Inquiry’s scope and purpose. The Adoption Act remains unchallenged as a result, with lasting consequences for both survivors and society.