A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has found there were only 317 adoptions in Australia in 2013-14, down 9 per cent from the previous year and 76 per cent from 1989-90.

It is the smallest number since national records began in 1968-69.

The number of adoptions of Australian children has fallen most dramatically, with an 85 per cent decline over the past 25 years. Adoptions from overseas have dropped by 73 per cent over the same period.

The Institute of Health and Welfare said the fall in the number of Australian adoptees was caused by a range of factors, including increased access to birth control, better support for single parents and the growth of alternative legal arrangements, such as the ability to transfer guardianship and custody of a child to another person.

Inter-country adoptions had fallen because of economic and social changes overseas, which meant children were staying with their birth families or were being adopted in their countries of origin, the institute said.

In 2013-14, Taiwan was the main country for overseas adoptions in Australia, followed by the Philippines, South Korea and China.

Taiwan had consistently been among the countries with the shortest length of time to adopt a child and also had a high number of children adopted under the age of 12 months, the institute said.

The report comes after Prime Minister Tony Abbott has moved to make it easier for Australians to adopt children from overseas and has pledged to reduce waiting times from the overall average of five years to one year.

This year all parents who adopted children from overseas were at least 30, with the majority being 40 or older. Nearly 99 per cent of parents who adopted Australian children were older than 30.

The institute said most adoptions were successful, although a small number of children are placed later with new adoptive parents or into state care.

All children who were adopted from overseas in 2012-13 were still with their new families 12 months later.

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