People caring for children and young people

The National Standards acknowledge the primary role played by families and carers in the lives of children and young people. The National Standards are based on evidence that better outcomes occur for those children and young people who are healthy, safe and secure, have strong cultural, spiritual and community ties, have a positive sense of identity, participate in learning and achieving, and have positive family and other relationships.

For healthy development, children and young people in out-of-home care must have safe, predictable care, including cultural safety. Stability contributes to a sense of feeling safe. It can be a broader concept than placement stability and can relate to life more generally, including stability of relationships and connections, stability in schooling and stability of community and/or participation in community activities such as sports teams.

Carers

Carers are the backbone of the system. Caring for children and young people in out-of-home care provides many rewards as well as many challenges. The provision of support that is timely and responsive to the needs of carers and the children and young people they are caring for, and ongoing quality training and development, will help carers deliver the best care possible in often complex or challenging circumstances.

Families

All children and young people have the right to maintain contact with people who are important to them. The importance of parents, family, community and social networks is a constant theme in the literature examining out-of-home care, where the yearning for family and for connection is well known.

Developing and maintaining positive identity through links with family and kin, community, friends and other important attachments can help children and young people understand why they are in care as well as maximise the potential for re-unification and re-connection with family.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people benefit when well matched with an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander family that enables them to maintain fundamental links to family, community, land and culture. The continued preservation and enhancement of a sense of identity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people is of critical importance to their development. Maintaining family, community and cultural connections needs to occur regardless of where and with whom an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child or young person is placed.

Implementation of the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle (ACPP) is fundamental to maintaining an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child or young person's links to family, community, land and culture. The principle recognises that culture for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child or young person is central to their wellbeing and development.