While the Australian government estimates that initial numbers in the program will be small, it says many South African children in need of adoption have "complex" medical and health conditions that include being HIV positive, being born to a HIV positive mother, and developmental delays.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who has taken a personal interest in making overseas adoption in general "much, much easier" for Australians, said that South Africa children with health needs would "benefit from the caring environment that Australian families can provide".

This comes as the government released an interdepartmental report that said the children available for overseas adoption are changing from healthy babies to children with special needs. Over all, many countries have fewer children in need of adoption, due to changing economic and social factors, such as a weakening stigma against single mothers.

The report, which was presented to the Council of Australian Governments last Friday, and released on Monday, found that compared with other developed countries, Australia adopts a small number of children from overseas and "exceptionally low" numbers of overseas children with special needs.

In 2012-13 there were 129 intercountry adoptions in total to Australia. This is down from 434 in 2004-05. It is estimated that less than 10 special needs children are adopted each year.

The government's report cautioned that prospective Australian parents may currently be discouraged from adopting children with medical or health issues by state authorities, "due to limited resources for the more intensive post-adoption services required for children with special needs".

It also found that prospective parents and countries of origin incorrectly believe that current immigration health requirements prevent Australians from adopting special needs children.

As the federal government pushes ahead with a national system for overseas adoption, which it hopes to have up and running by early 2015, the Attorney-General's, Immigration and Foreign Affairs Departments have been asked to develop a communication plan to address "misconceptions" about overseas adoptions. These include that the adoption visa health requirement, which requires a medical examination, prevents children from being adopted.

Special Needs Adoption Australia co-ordinator Deborah Brook welcomed the government's plans, but noted that a major Coalition review into overseas adoptions in 2005 had already brought little practical reform to a process that was costly, lengthy and confusing.

But Ms Brook, who adopted a son with a cleft lip and a cleft palate from China four years ago, said that there is substantial community interest in adopting children with special needs. She said that many children's health issues, such as her son's, can be easily fixed or managed in Australia.

"Getting those children out of the institutions is a good thing," she said.

UNICEF Australia has been pressing the government to prioritise "extremely vulnerable" children and praised the report as a "really strong way forward".

"They've taken a very mature approach," spokesman Tim O'Connor said.