Adoption Register

I first contacted the Dept of Child Safety early to mid last year to register our expression of interest for adopting. I filled out the forms and sent them off... and didn't hear a word. As time passed, I wondered what was going on, so I e-mailed the dept. Here's the transcript:
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Hello

Weve been diligently checking the department website for information regarding the next opening for Expressions of Interest for intercountry adoption. According to the website, it's been more than a year since the last information sessions etc. were offered and we'd love to know if there will be anything similar this year. Thank you for any information you can provide.

Kind regards,
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I gratefully received a reply the following day:

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Amy N Fletcher to me 20/10/05

This to notify you that your request - Re: Query has been completed.

Thank you for your enquiry.

At this stage we have no information as to when the next Expression of
Interest Register will open - it is opened when there is a need to assess
more prospective adoptive parents. Because of the large response to the
last Expression of Interest (up to 600 applications) it is not expected to
open this year.

If you would like to be notified by mail when the next register opens,
please complete the attached document and return to the Intercountry
Adoption Unit.

Kind Regards.
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We had already completed and sent off the forms earlier in the year asking us to be added to the notification for when the next expression of interest would open (the document she was referring to). After reading that there were up to 600 applicants, and knowing that there were only 60 inter-country adoptions in the previous twelve months, I did a quick calculation and wondered if it would take ten years to fill the backlog. Hrm...

Time passed and about three weeks ago I was reading the weekend newspaper and I saw this:


The 248 applicants it refers to is for Qld adoptions... (intercountry was the 'up to 600' amount already discussed...)

The information was on the news the next day and I also saw the Minister's media statement about it.
In any case, wahoo! The register is open! This is our opportunity to get the ball rolling! Even though I am still not 30, I figure if we start the process now, then by the time we get through everything we need to I will have turned 30 and the file can be sent over. The thing I find interesting is that the register is open for twelve months. Last time it only opened for a window of eight weeks.