Foster care is when DCJ removes a child from their family and places them with another person or family who are unrelated to your child, whose responsibility is to offer a safe, nurturing, and culturally connected home. Foster carers are recruited to provide different types of care (e.g. emergency, short/medium term, long term, etc.) which can all have different time frames.
Short-term care is for when decisions are still being made about your child returning home or not (restoration). It is usually for when there are ‘interim Court orders’ made. This short-term care could turn into long-term care, depending on DCJ’s decisions about restoration and the availability of the carers to do that.
Long-term care is when your child stays in foster care with carers who have already agreed to care for them until they are 18 years old.
Respite care is when a child will stay with a different carer so their foster carers can take a short break, or a child can take a break from the household. Respite carers can include family and community members.
Emergency care is for when a child has been removed at short notice, and there is no family or short-term carer available to care for your child. They can stay for a night or a few weeks. Because 65% of removals by DCJ are called ‘emergency removals’ (Audit report 2024) and there are not enough carers for the rate children are being removed, this type of care happens more than it should.
If your child is placed in foster care, you will most likely have contact with your child’s foster carers. Parents have said that as hard as it was, in the end it was helpful to have a positive relationship with the foster carers, to work towards getting their child home (restoration).
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.
