NSW Adoption rights Australia

[Matilda]

Hello.
My mother was adopted in 1957. This was knowledge never kept from me by my adoptive Grandparents. After my adoptive Grandmothers passing I requested my mothers adoption papers from my Grandad , he said my Aunty was now in charge of all those matters. She to was adopted in 1953. She refused my request then for what ever purpose decided to tell me that there was no adoption that we were all blood related and sent my life into a tailspin. I tried on several occasions to again recover my mothers information and my Aunty continued with her lies to the extent of keeping distance between me and my Grandfather, not telling me my Grandad was dying of prostrate cancer and me not finding hat out till the day of his funeral. He tried to tell me but I heard her in the background telling him not to tell me.
I can't even explain the mental anguish this woman has caused me.
To my knowledge my mother is still alive but has refused to have anything to do with the family for quite some time.
Iv since then had a DNA test through Ancestry and have found many a relative and not one of these people are linked to my adopted Grandparents, therefore confirming everything. Also because I'm unaware of my fathers identity I don't know how I'm related to any of these people.
I want to know what my rights are, can I sue my Aunty for all the pain and suffering she has caused me because it's been alot. Can I legally request my mothers papers from her as she was made the guardian of my Grandparents estate?
Thankyou for any advice

 

[Scruff]

Can you confirm
1. if your mother was born in Australia and if so, do you know which state?
2. did the adoption occur in Australia and if so, do you know which state?

 

[Matilda]

Can you confirm
1. if your mother was born in Australia and if so, do you know which state?
2. did the adoption occur in Australia and if so, do you know which state?

Hi.
No I can't confirm if my mother was born in Australia and I can only assume the adoption took place in NSW.

 

[Scruff]

I suppose you can't really force someone to hand over the documents, but you may be able to get copies of everything yourself.

As far as I can tell from the NSW legislation, only parents, adoptive parents, siblings and the "person of interest" (the adopted child) have a general right to access birth and adoption records. It seems that neither the "NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act" nor the "NSW Adoption Act" accomodate your particular circumstances - which is a child seeking the records of a parent who was adopted. I assume other states would probably be similar. What this means for you, is that you might be able to apply to have a search done yourself, or the Registry might stipulate that you have to apply through a solicitor.

It also seems that obtaining the adoption info is a two step process. Apparently you need to obtain an "adoption information certificate" from FACS before applying to the Registry to have the search done. (I have no idea why FACS is involved in the process.)

You will need the usual three forms of ID - your birth certificate plus two others (Drivers licence, Medicare Card, etc).

You also need to try and get just a little more info so you know which state to search. What you know about your grand parents may help here. For example, if you think they have lived in NSW all their lives, then the chances are pretty high that your mum was both born and adopted in NSW as well. So just go through what you know, and see if you can narrow things down to one or two states.

In regard to the adoption itself, it might be enough just to know your grand parents details and the year of the adoption. The year will be important in your case, because I notice that they adopted twice. The good news for you is that the adoptions occurred in different years and you know which one you're after.

For NSW, the following pages from the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages provides some info about the process and fees:
Birth certificate
Adoptions
Contact us (Includes an email address for general enquiries)

Before all else, I recommend you contact the Registry directly to find out if you need a solicitor or not, and also to find out the minimum information needed to conduct the search.