Child and family

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• Our performance
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5. Carer families

Graphs

Number of approved carer families, by carer type and Indigenous status, Queensland, as at 30 June 2019

Tables

Table notes

What role do carers have?

Approved carers play a key role in the child protection system, providing care for children when separation from their family is required to ensure their safety.

The approval of carers is prescribed by the Child Protection Act 1999 and the Child Protection Regulation 2011. There are three types of approved carers:

• foster carers - approved to care for any child or young person in the custody or guardianship of the chief executive (Director-General) of the department
• kinship carers - approved to care for a specific child or children who are members of their extended family or community, or with whom they have a pre-existing significant relationship
• provisionally approved carers - applicants wishing to become approved as kinship or foster carers who initially receive a provisional certificate of approval. An applicant will only be issued with a provisional certificate when they have been provisionally assessed as suitable to care for a particular child.

Why this topic is important

In Queensland, there is a critical need for more foster and kinship carers to allow the department and community fostering agencies to better match the needs of children with suitable carers.

An increased pool of foster carers will ensure more long-term, successful and rewarding placements for children who are unable to live with their own families.

If you are interested in becoming a foster or kinship carer, please call 1300 550 877 or complete an expression of interest.

Trends

As at 30 June 2019, there were 5,345 carer families (3,522 foster carers, 1,610 kinship carers and 213 provisionally approved carers). Overall, the number of carer families has increased, by 2.0 per cent since 30 June 2018 (5,241) and 6.6 per cent since 30 June 2015 (5,012).

Of the 5,345 carer families as at 30 June 2019, 17.4 per cent were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (930) and 82.6 per cent were non-Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (4,415).

The ratio of children and young people in home-based care to the number of carer families was 1.63 as at 30 June 2019.