Application by the Director-General, NSW Department of Community Services: Adoption of DR by DCB and HMB

The case before the court involved an application by the Director-General, NSW Department of Community Services, seeking an adoption order for a child named DR, who had come to Australia from India at the age of 17 to live with the applicants, DCB and HMB. DR had formed an extraordinary and special relationship with the applicants since the age of 13. The applicants argued that DR had been brought up, maintained, and educated by them as their child. The dispute centred on whether the applicants had fulfilled the requirements for an adoption order under the relevant legislation, considering DR's age and immigration status.

The court was required to determine whether the applicants had sufficiently demonstrated that they had raised DR as their child, justifying an adoption order. The key legal issue was whether the applicants' relationship with DR, which began when DR was 13, met the statutory criteria for adoption, despite DR's age and immigration status at the time of the application. The court had to consider the statutory framework governing adoptions and the evidence presented regarding the relationship between DR and the applicants.

The court found that the applicants had indeed brought up, maintained, and educated DR as their child, establishing a special and extraordinary relationship from a young age. The court noted the significant time DR had spent with the applicants, the care provided, and the educational support given. The court was satisfied that the applicants had fulfilled the necessary criteria for an adoption order. The court also considered DR's immigration status and found it did not preclude the making of an adoption order. The court concluded that the applicants' relationship with DR warranted the grant of an adoption order.

The final orders of the court granted the application for an adoption order, allowing DCB and HMB to adopt DR. The court recognised the deep and enduring relationship between DR and the applicants, which justified the adoption order despite DR's age and immigration status at the time of the application.