Whangai was not a valid practice under these Acts, which ensured the secrecy of parents was upheld in the adoption process. Adoptions passed to the general courts signalling the completion of legal assimilation in this area of tīkanga Māori. The following year all Māori adoption hearings moved to magistrate’s courts. This changed the balance between private groups and the Division by giving child welfare officers a larger role in the adoption process.[i] The Division’s share increased from 34% of all adoption placements in 1957 to over 70% by the early 1970s. The Act gave Māori the right to adopt Pākehā children, a right they had lost in 1909.[ii]
Footnotes
- [i] go to main content Margaret Tennant, The Fabric of Welfare: Voluntary Organisations, Government, and Welfare in New Zealand, 1840–2005, 2007, p. 143.
- [ii] go to main content Bronwyn Dalley, Family Matters, Wellington, 1998, pp. 225–226.; Puao-te-Ata-Tu, The Report of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on a Maori Perspective for the Department of Social Welfare, Wellington, September 1988, p.75. Puao-te-ata-tu (Daybreak) - PDF Document (msd.govt.nz)