3. Setting the scene

3.1 Learning from history

All children and young people have the right to be safe, to receive loving care and support, and have access to the services they need to enable them to succeed in life. This basic right is fundamental to the well-being of a child or young person and his or her healthy development.

Former child migrants and the Forgotten Australians were denied the basic right of all children to receive protection, support and loving care. Australians are committed to learning from this history and improving the opportunities given to our children and young people.

The Australian Government, state and territory governments and the non-government sector recognise families as the central unit that supports, nurtures and guides children and young people. In turn, effective supports for vulnerable parents and families are an important priority. There is a national commitment to provide child-centred, family-focused responses as the most effective way to help children and young people who are disadvantaged or at risk of becoming disadvantaged later in life.

3.2 How many Australian children experience Out of Home Care?

At 30 June 2009, there were 34,069 children living in Out of Home Care in Australia.⁵(Opens in a new tab/window) The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports that the number of children living in Out of Home Care increased by 44 per cent between 2005 and 2009.⁶(Opens in a new tab/window) The rate of children living in Out of Home Care differs between jurisdictions, ranging from 4.3 per thousand in Victoria to 9.4 per thousand in New South Wales.⁷(Opens in a new tab/window)

In 2008-09, the majority of children in Out of Home Care were in home-based care (94 per cent), living either in foster care (47 per cent) or with relatives (45 per cent). A small proportion of children were living in residential care (4.8 per cent) or other care arrangements (2.7 per cent).⁸(Opens in a new tab/window)

3.2.1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Out of Home Care

In 2009, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0-17 years were over nine times as likely to be in Out of Home Care as non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (44.8 in every thousand compared with 4.9 in every thousand).⁹(Opens in a new tab/window) At 30 June 2009, there were 10,512 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living in Out of Home Care in Australia.¹⁰(Opens in a new tab/window) The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports that this over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living in Out of Home Care has been increasing over the past decade in every state and territory,¹¹(Opens in a new tab/window) but the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare cautions that the increase may be due to a combination of improvements in the identification of Indigenous people as well as increases in the number of Indigenous children requiring child protection.¹²(Opens in a new tab/window)

Nationally, over 70 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (7,600) in an Out of Home Care placement in 2009 were placed with relatives/kin, other Indigenous caregivers or in Indigenous residential care. This figure can be attributed to the use of the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle by all jurisdictions, which recognises the right of an Aboriginal child to be raised in an environment that allows children to access their own culture, extended family and community.¹³(Opens in a new tab/window) However, this principle has highlighted the complexity of disadvantage and the relatively poorer socioeconomic circumstances of some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and the lack of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers (accredited or otherwise) available to the Out of Home Care system.

The number of placements made in accordance with the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle varies greatly between states and territories, highlighting a number of issues that require further investigation including the need for more support for recruitment, assessment, training and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander foster carers and kinship carers. At 30 June 2009, 2,861 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia were placed with non-Indigenous carers.¹⁴(Opens in a new tab/window)

3.3 Current Out of Home Care services and standards in Australia

Out of Home Care services are designed to:

• provide a safe environment;
• contribute to improving developmental outcomes; and
• assist in addressing issues that led to the Out of Home Care placement, such as family vulnerability.

In Australia, each state and territory government has a duty of care, and invests a great deal, in aiming to develop an Out of Home Care system that provides the opportunities for optimal development and well-being of children and young people in care. Given the range of developmental stages and transitions a child or young person may go through whilst in care, it is important that the Out of Home Care system provides necessary and appropriate supports to aid this process. This involves fulfilling many of the roles that a parent or family would be expected to satisfy, including supporting children and young people through key life transitions, identifying when the child or young person needs assistance and ensuring that protective conditions are present.

Each state and territory government has its own legislative and policy framework governing and regulating their child protection system. The Australian Institute of Family Studies has analysed the principle pieces of legislation across Australia pertaining to child protection, and identified broadly similar provisions relating to:

• the principle of 'best interests' of the child;
• whole-of-government and community responsibility for child protection and child welfare;
• early intervention;
• the participation of children and young people in decision making;
• culturally specific responses to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people;
• diversion from the court system;
• Out of Home Care;
• permanency planning and stability of care; and
• after care.¹⁵(Opens in a new tab/window)

The approach to ensuring quality provision of Out of Home Care services in Australia is primarily focused on service standards for providers (in some cases this is primarily the State/Territory Government) and setting out processes, procedures and accountability requirements.

Some jurisdictions are moving towards a quality assurance model for Out of Home Care. Such models tend to focus on what is expected of providers rather than specific outcomes for children and young people living in care. Discussions of quality and standards in relation to Out of Home Care generally relate to building sector capacity (i.e. increasing the number of caseworkers) or setting service-level standards (i.e. ensuring that children and young people have timely access to health professionals or that a caseworker is allocated within a specified time).

3.4 Why develop National Standards for Out of Home Care?

The Australian Government, state and territory governments and the non-government sector are developing National Standards for Out of Home Care that will assist children and young people to be provided with high quality care regardless of where they live. National Standards will assist children and young people who are unable to live with their family to receive the best possible care and support.

Most Australian jurisdictions already regulate the Out of Home Care system with a series of policies and standards that cover:

• Organisational management and capacity - including governance arrangements and management capability. For example, Victoria has a standard on the organisation's leadership and management capacity to provide clarity of direction, provide accountability and support quality and responsive services for children, youth and their families.
• Provision of quality care to children and young people - such as the placement of children in a suitable living arrangement, or case management and support of the child or young person. For example, South Australia has a standard on case management that requires Families' SA (South Australia) caseworkers to meet best-practice standards in working with young people, their families and carers.
• Recruitment of carers and employees - with the aim that staff are adequately qualified to provide care to a child (and young person). For example, Western Australia includes a standard concerning carers and staff recruitment, training, assessment and support, as does Victoria and New South Wales.

The development of National Standards aims to address the inconsistencies in state and territory regulations and standards for Out of Home Care. National Standards will help assist every child or young person in care to receive the same opportunities to develop as children or young people who are not living in Out of Home Care.