25 Years of Warnings: Fixing Aotearoa’s Adoption Loophole

International adoption in Aotearoa is once again in the spotlight due to a serious gap in the law that has allowed child trafficking to occur through legitimate processes. What strikes Rebecca Kingi, board member of ECPAT Child Alert Trust and trafficking in persons expert, is that the government has been aware of this issue for 25 years. Section 17 of the Adoption Act 1955 enables children from certain non-Hague countries to be adopted overseas and brought into Aotearoa without any official vetting — no background checks on adoptive parents, no assessment of the child’s well-being, and no oversight by NZ authorities. Despite repeated concerns raised by Oranga Tamariki, the law has remained untouched, leaving children vulnerable to exploitation. While ethical, well-monitored international adoption can provide safety and stability for children in need, this unregulated route has exposed them to serious harm. 

Being a remote island nation doesn’t shield Aotearoa from trafficking. It often occurs through legal immigration and can even happen entirely within the country’s borders. What’s needed now is a legal and policy response focused on protecting people at risk — not preserving the status quo. Encouragingly, the conversation on modern slavery is re-emerging in Parliament. A Member’s Bill introduced by National MP Greg Fleming — the Modern Slavery Reporting Bill — marks a step forward. Based on a 2024 bill developed by human rights experts Rebecca Kingi, Jacob Parry, and Rebekah Armstrong, the bill could serve as a foundation for a stronger, rights-based framework to prevent exploitation and hold systems accountable.