If your child is removed from your care or someone else’s care, they live somewhere else, and this is called a ‘placement.’ There are many options DCJ can use before a removal happens, that are not often being used. These are listed below.
A family arrangement is the least intrusive placement option that exists, which can support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to continue to be raised within their kinship, Community, and culture. Direct engagement with the system is harmful to kids, so other Aboriginal families have been strategic in trying to make sure the system is not involved. You can decide to make a family arrangement legal through the Family Court to try and avoid DCJ involvement. You can go to Family Court and hand over interim parental responsibility to a family member through an affidavit (a written statement) or consent orders. DCJ can still be a part of the Court proceedings in Family Court, but they shouldn’t remove the child if there is a family arrangement in place with no worries or risks. Once DCJ has taken a child, you must go through the Children’s Court, not Family Court. Ask your lawyer if family law can help your situation and how to do this.
A Registered Care Plan (RCP), Parental Responsibility Contract (PRC), Parent Capacity Order (PCO), Supervision Order and Temporary Care Arrangement (TCA) should all be considered as options before a DCJ decides to remove. They also come with their own dangers, but in most of them your child stays at home with you.
In kinship care and foster care, parents usually don’t have legal parental responsibility and your children won’t stay at home with you. DCJ are legally required to look for family members who could take on the care of your children (section 13 of the Care Act; The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child and Young Person Placement Principle).
Your child stays with a family member, and your case does not go through the Courts or avoids DCJ involvement altogether.
Your child can stay at home with you, but there is a plan in place you have agreed to must follow (section 78 of the Care Act), which is registered with the Court under section 38F of the Care Act. You child can also be placed out of your care for an agreed period of time (such as the completion of a rehab program).
Your child stays at home with you, but there is a contract between you and DCJ, saying you must do certain things to keep your child at home (section 38A of the Care Act).
Your child stays at home with you, but DCJ asks the Court to instruct you to participate in a program, service, or course (section 91B of the Care Act).
Your child stays at home with you, but DCJ asses your child to be ‘in need of care and protection.’ DCJ monitors your child and surveils your family and reports on outcomes to the Court (section 76 and section 77 of the Care Act).
Your child does not stay at home with you but stays with someone else for 3 months or extended to 6 months. This is meant to be voluntary, however it can be used as a ‘soft entry’ into care and commonly used by DCJ (section 151 and section 152 Care Act).
Your child does not stay home with you and remains in the placement with their guardian. DCJ becomes less involved in your child and your life, and the carer / guardian takes on full legal responsibility of your child (section 79A of the Care Act).
Your child does not stay at home with you but lives with a relative or a member of their Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community There are two kinds of kincare – the one where the carer has parental responsibltiy and makes decisions for your child (section 79(1)(f) of the Care Act) and the other where they are authorised to care for your child, but the Minister still has parental responsibility and makes final decisions (section 79 (1)(b) of the Care Act).
Your child does not stay at home with you but lives with an authorised carer who your child most likely won’t have known before they were placed there. Their responsibility is to offer a safe, nurturing, and culturally connected home.
Your child does not stay at home with you, but their Out of Home Carer permanently assumes all rights and responsibilities from their parents. All adoption in NSW is ‘open adoption,’ which means the child can still see their family members.
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.
