A supervision order allows DCJ to supervise you and your child through home visits, interviews with your child, talking with services and formal reports to the Court. This means that your child stays home with you and you continue to have parental responsibility for your child, but DCJ still monitors your child and surveils your family. Requirements around supervision orders are outlined in sections 76 and 77 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998.The Care Act says that a supervision order can only be placed on you if you have been assessed by DCJ, with an outcome of ‘in need of care and protection’. The Children’s Court must tell you the reasons, purposes and the length of time of the supervision order, which they should be able to extract from the evidence filed by DCJ. The supervision order lasts for up to 1 year, but the Children’s Court can extend it to a total of 2 years if there are special circumstances. If the supervision order does last longer than 12 months, then the Court can end it at any time if they determine that there is no need for it anymore. During this time, DCJ can visit your home, talk to your child and your family, provide advice to parents, and provide support for your child and your family. DCJ will report to the Court on what they think your progress is under the supervision order. DCJ can report to the Children’s Court and suggest to end the supervision order, if they think there is no need for it anymore. This is outlined in s76(7) of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998. If DCJ feels like you have done something against the supervision order (called an ‘alleged breach’), they can tell the Court. The Court can relist a matter if they read something in a report on how the supervision order is progressing.
DCJ has had time to gather ‘evidence’ against you, so it’s smart to record your own evidence for your lawyer to use too.
You can agree or disagree with the supervision order being made, but the court makes the final decision. You and your lawyer can tell the court your side of things and try and negotiate with the court on things like how long it goes for and what supports should be provided to you. If you disagree the decision will be decided at a court date called a hearing, and the court will make the decision.
DCJ is legally required to make ‘active efforts’ so that your child does not go into out-of-home care. This means they need to support you in the changes they want you to make. This might look like connecting you to services you actually think will help you and providing transport and hands-on help in your home.
A supervision order means that DCJ are watching you and your family, and this is usually hard for families to go through and live their normal day to day lives. It can also mean that DCJ can use this time to gather more evidence to use against your family. But it is counted as a ‘less intrusive’ option, because your child is not removed. Keep collecting your own evidence to show what you and DCJ are doing.
At the end of the supervision order, DCJ will report to the Court on if they believe you have met the goals. They might recommend ending or extending the order or even removing your child. If the court says the order was breached, this can also be used as the justification to remove your child. If they remove your child, they need to file a brand new care application in the same way as they would if there had been no supervision order.
AbSec and our partners acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout NSW and their continuing connections to land, waters, and communities. We also acknowledge the lands on which these stories were told, the lands of the Dharawal, Yuin and Wonnarua people.
We acknowledge the Elders, leaders and advocates that have led the way and continue to fight for our children. We also acknowledge the Stolen Generations who never came home and the ongoing impact of government policy and practice on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and families.
This website shares the experiences and advice of Aboriginal families involved in the NSW child protection system who participated in the Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home research at UNSW. We acknowledge and thank the families who generously gave permission to share their stories.
These experiences reflect what worked for those families and do not constitute advice or views of AbSec. AbSec recommends seeking independent legal advice for your own circumstances.
