What do the National Standards cover?

The National Standards focus on those children and young people whose care arrangements have been ordered by the Children's Court, where the parental responsibility for the child or young person has been transferred to the Minister/Chief Executive.

The National Standards are designed to improve the outcomes and experiences for children and young people by focusing on the key areas within care that directly influence positive outcomes. These are:

• health;
• education;
• care planning;
• connection to family;
• culture and community;
• transition from care;
• training and support for carers;
• belonging and identity, and
• safety, stability and security.

These key areas have been chosen based on broad consultation with children and young people, service providers, carers and governments.

The overall aim of the National Standards is to deliver a more integrated response between all governments, but they do not change core governance arrangements. The states and territories retain responsibility for statutory child protection, while the Australian Government retains responsibility for providing income support payments.