MLC 2017 03 03 RDS Report
Section 18 of the Adoption Act 1955 explicitly stated that adoption orders under the Act applied to Māori and sections 19(1) and (2) of the Act effectively provided that customary Māori adoption (whāngai) carried out since the commencement of the Native Lands Act was not legally binding.
Documents/Guides-Templates-Factsheets/MLC-2017-03-03-RDS-Report.pdf (1.1 mb)