Foster Care Australia: Types, Payments and How to Apply

What Is Foster Care in Australia?

Foster care is a form of out-of-home care in which an approved adult or family provides a safe, temporary or longer-term home for a child or young person who cannot live safely with their birth parents. The child’s day-to-day care is provided by the foster carer, while legal guardianship remains with the state or territory government (except in some long-term arrangements where guardianship may transfer to a third party).

Foster care operates within Australia’s broader child protection system, which is administered by each state and territory rather than at the federal level. State and territory governments fund and regulate child protection departments, which work alongside accredited non-government organisations to recruit, train, and support foster carers.

The goal of every foster placement is to keep children safe and connected to their families and communities wherever that is possible. The NSW Government describes it this way: it is almost always best for children to be cared for safely by their family. When that is not possible, the priority is extended family and kin. Foster carers step in when no other option is safe or available.

Foster Care in Numbers: The 2024 Picture

The most current national data comes from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) Child Protection Australia 2023-24 report, published in 2025.

About three in five children in out-of-home care (61%) were aged 5-14 years. The rate of children in inner and outer regional areas (12 per 1,000) and remote and very remote areas (14 per 1,000) was more than twice that of children in major cities (5.9 per 1,000), reflecting both service access disparities and the concentrated disadvantage in some regional communities.

One figure that demands attention: around 44% of all children in out-of-home care at 30 June 2024 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, despite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children making up approximately 6% of Australia’s total child population (SNAICC Family Matters Report 2024). This is not a footnote. It is a central feature of how Australia’s child protection system functions and where it continues to fall short. More on this in the ATSICPP section below.

Types of Foster and Out-of-Home Care

Foster care is not a single type of arrangement. Several distinct models operate within the broader out-of-home care system, and most agencies will ask potential carers what type of placement they are interested in providing. The main types are:

Emergency Care

Emergency carers accept placements at short notice, sometimes at night or on weekends, when a child needs somewhere safe immediately. Placements may last from a single night up to around 12 weeks while child protection workers find a family member or other suitable carer. Emergency care suits people who can be flexible and available at short notice. The carer allowance for emergency placements is the same as for other types of care.

Respite Care

Respite carers provide short-term care for children on a regular, scheduled basis, typically one weekend per month or during school holidays, to give the primary carer a break. Respite care can also be provided to birth families who are struggling and need temporary support to prevent a child from entering full-time care. It is usually the most accessible entry point for people who want to start fostering without committing to long-term placements.

Short-Term Care

Short-term placements are for children whose parents or family are working through difficulties that prevent safe care at home. These placements are designed to be temporary, with reunification as the goal. They can last from a few weeks up to approximately two years, depending on the child’s circumstances and the family’s progress. Case workers from the state child welfare department or the placing agency are actively involved in supporting both the child and the birth family throughout.

Long-Term Care

Some children cannot safely return home and require a stable placement for an extended period, sometimes until adulthood. Over time, these arrangements may transition to permanent guardianship or a third-party parental responsibility order, depending on the child’s needs and the legal pathway available. Carers in these placements build deep, ongoing relationships with the children they support, and many maintain those connections well beyond the formal end of care.

Kinship Care

Kinship care is when a child is placed with a relative or trusted adult from their existing network, such as a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or close family friend. It is covered in more detail in the kinship care section below. Kinship placements are generally preferred over unrelated foster placements because they preserve the child’s existing relationships and cultural connections.

Intensive or Specialist Foster Care

Specialist programs such as Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO), also known as Intensive Foster Care in some states, provide intensive support for children with complex needs, including those with significant trauma histories, challenging behaviours, or large sibling groups. Carers in these programs typically receive substantially higher allowances, specialist training, and closer support from the placing agency. In Victoria and Queensland, carers in TFCO programs receive a tax-free allowance of approximately $75,000 per year. In NSW the figure is approximately $80,000 per year. These programs require a greater time commitment and a full-time care approach.

Who Can Become a Foster Carer in Australia?

The eligibility criteria for foster carers are broader than many people expect. Requirements vary slightly between states, territories, and individual agencies. Here is the general picture across Australia:

• You must be over 18 years of age. There is no upper age limit in most states.
• At least one applicant must be a permanent resident or Australian citizen, or have the legal right to remain in Australia long-term.
• Relationship status does not matter — single, partnered, same-sex couples, married, or unmarried applicants are all welcome.
• Renters and homeowners are both eligible.
• Working full-time, part-time, or not at all is fine, though your availability may influence the type of care placements offered.
• Having your own children is not a barrier.
• Applicants with a disability are welcome, provided they can demonstrate capacity to meet a child’s needs with appropriate support in place.
• You need to pass a criminal history check and Working with Children Check.
• You need to provide references and complete a health check.

What matters most is your commitment to a child’s wellbeing, your emotional resilience, your willingness to work collaboratively with birth families and caseworkers, and your ability to provide a safe, stable home. People from all cultural backgrounds, religions, and life experiences are encouraged to apply. The foster care system particularly needs carers from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and carers who speak languages other than English, to provide culturally appropriate placements for children.

How the Approval Process Works in Australia

Becoming an approved foster carer is a thorough process designed to protect children and ensure carers have the preparation and support they need. Most states and territories follow a broadly similar pathway, though specific steps and timelines vary. The process typically takes between four and twelve months.

1. Initial enquiry. Contact your state or territory child welfare department or an accredited foster care agency. They will provide information about what is involved and ask some initial questions about your circumstances. This is not a formal assessment; it is a conversation.
2. Expression of interest and eligibility check. You will complete an expression of interest form and an eligibility questionnaire. The agency or department will confirm that you meet the basic criteria (age, residency, household circumstances) before proceeding.
3. Criminal history and Working with Children Checks. All adults in the household are required to undergo a Working with Children Check and a criminal history check. Not all convictions disqualify an applicant; this depends on the nature and recency of any findings and is assessed on a case-by-case basis.
4. References. You will need to provide personal references. Assessors will contact referees to gain a broader picture of your character, relationships, and capacity for care.
5. Medical check. A health assessment helps identify any conditions that might affect your ability to care for a child, and also ensures you are connected to any support you might need.
6. Home assessment. An assessor will visit your home to check that it is safe, has appropriate sleeping arrangements, and meets relevant standards. Carers can rent or own, but the home must be suitable for a child.
7. Pre-approval training. All applicants must complete pre-approval training, which covers child development, trauma-informed care, working with birth families, and cultural safety. Training is usually provided by the agency or department at no cost to the applicant.
8. Assessment interviews. Assessors will conduct in-depth interviews with you to understand your motivations, your household, your parenting approach, and your capacity to meet the needs of children who may have experienced trauma.
9. Panel review and approval. Your application is reviewed by an approval panel. If approved, you are authorised to take placements. You will continue to receive support, supervision, and training after approval.

Foster Carer Payments and Financial Support in Australia

One of the most common questions people ask before applying is whether foster carers are paid. The short answer: foster carers receive a fortnightly carer allowance, but it is not a salary. It is a tax-free contribution toward the costs of caring for a child and does not affect Centrelink payments or appear on your tax return.

Standard Carer Allowance

The allowance covers day-to-day costs: food, clothing, school supplies, household bills, pocket money, and recreational activities. Each state and territory sets its own rates and indexes them annually. As of 2025:

• In Queensland, the base fortnightly allowance ranges from approximately $623 to $730, depending on the child’s age (Queensland Government, January 2025).
• In Victoria, Queensland, and the ACT, base allowances generally range from $450 to $700 per fortnight for standard placements (OzChild).
• NSW increased its standard care allowance from 1 January 2026, following a $143.9 million commitment in the 2025-26 Budget. Current rates apply from that date; contact DCJ or your agency for the specific figures that apply to your situation.
• In the Northern Territory, the Standard Age Carer Payment is indexed by CPI annually; from 1 July 2024, NT rates increased by 10%.

Additional Allowances

Children with complex or high support needs may attract additional allowances on top of the standard rate. In Queensland these are called the Complex Support Needs Allowance (CSNA) and High Support Needs Allowance (HSNA). In NSW, additional rates apply for children assessed as requiring extra support. Specialist foster care programs such as TFCO provide much higher allowances, as noted in the types of care section.

Establishment Payments

Some states provide one-off establishment payments when a new child is placed with a carer, to cover initial costs such as clothing, bedding, and school supplies. Contact your agency or state department for details on what is available in your state.

Activity and Extracurricular Payments

In Queensland, carers and guardians are eligible to receive $1,500 per year for each child in their primary care to support participation in extracurricular activities, paid biannually in July and January.

Government Payments

Foster carers may also be eligible for Australian Government family payments such as Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A and Part B, depending on their care arrangement. These are separate from and in addition to the state carer allowance. Eligibility depends on the type of care order in place and the carer’s household circumstances. Services Australia can advise on specific entitlements.

Kinship Care and Relative Care in Australia

Kinship care is the most common form of out-of-home care in Australia by number of carer households. At 30 June 2024, there were approximately 16,000 relative and kinship carer households with one or more children placed with them, compared to around 7,900 foster carer households (AIHW Child Protection Australia 2023-24).

A kinship placement is when a child lives with someone they already know and trust: a grandparent, aunt, uncle, older sibling, or close family friend. This arrangement is generally preferred by child welfare systems because it preserves the child’s existing relationships, cultural ties, and sense of identity.

Formal and Informal Kinship Care

Kinship care exists on a spectrum from informal to formal:

Informal kinship care is a private family arrangement made without a court order or state involvement. In these situations, the birth parents retain legal guardianship and parental responsibility. Financial support from the state is not available for informal arrangements, and carers have limited legal authority to make decisions about the child’s education, medical care, or travel without parental consent.

Formal kinship care occurs when a child is placed by court order. In these arrangements, the state child welfare department is involved in case management, a care plan is developed, and the carer may be eligible for the standard carer allowance and other supports. The level of support depends on the type of court order in place.

Assessment for Kinship Carers

Kinship carers go through an assessment process similar to foster carers, including criminal history checks, Working with Children Checks, and a suitability assessment. The process may be adapted to reflect the existing relationship between the carer and the child, and timelines may be adjusted where a child needs to be placed quickly and safely.

Support for Kinship Carers

Many kinship carers take on this role unexpectedly, often in response to a sudden family crisis. They may face financial pressure, emotional challenges, and complex family dynamics that formal foster carers do not. If you are a kinship carer and need support understanding your options, Nhanya Foundation’s advocacy and service navigation service can help you understand what support you may be eligible for and how to access it.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP) is one of the most important frameworks in Australian child welfare law and policy. It is incorporated into child protection legislation in every state and territory.

The ATSICPP affirms that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have the right to grow up connected to their family, community, culture, and Country. When a child must be placed in out-of-home care, it establishes a clear placement hierarchy:

1. Placement with the child’s extended family or kin
2. Placement with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander family from the child’s community
3. Placement with another Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander family
4. Placement with a non-Indigenous family as a last resort, with a commitment to maintaining cultural connections

The ATSICPP has five elements: Prevention, Partnership, Placement, Participation, and Connection. All five are considered equally important.

Why This Matters: The Current Reality

Despite the ATSICPP being embedded in law for decades, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children remain deeply over-represented in Australia’s child protection system. SNAICC’s Family Matters Report 2024 shows these children represent approximately 41% of all children in out-of-home care, despite making up only 6% of Australia’s total child population. They are 10.8 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children.

Nationally, the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care was 50.3 per 1,000 children in 2024, up from 47.3 per 1,000 in 2019. That trajectory is moving in the wrong direction against the Closing the Gap target of a 45% reduction by 2031 (Productivity Commission, 2024).

SNAICC and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations continue to call for greater investment in prevention and early support services delivered by Aboriginal-led organisations, as well as full implementation of the ATSICPP’s intent rather than just its letter.

Support Available for Foster Carers in Australia

Foster carers do not work alone. A range of support is built into the system, though the type and intensity varies by state, agency, and placement type.

Caseworker Support

Every child placed in foster care has a caseworker from the state child welfare department or the placing agency. Carers have regular contact with the caseworker and can raise concerns or requests through them. The caseworker is also responsible for coordinating the child’s care plan, maintaining contact with the birth family, and managing transitions in and out of placements.

Training and Professional Development

Pre-approval training is required for all foster carers. After approval, ongoing training is typically available and often encouraged or required. Topics include trauma-informed care, therapeutic parenting, cultural safety, behaviour support, and working with children who have experienced abuse or neglect. Life Without Barriers, for example, provides ongoing training and access to support networks including the MOCKINGBIRD FAMILY model, which connects carers in a local constellation for peer support.

Respite for Carers

Foster carers are supported to take regular breaks and most agencies actively encourage this. Respite care, provided by another approved carer for short periods, gives primary carers time to rest and attend to their own wellbeing. Where friends and family are not available to provide informal respite, formal respite carers can be arranged through the agency. Having regular breaks is widely recognised as a key factor in long-term carer sustainability.

Emergency Support

Carers can access emergency support outside business hours through their agency or the state department. If a placement breaks down unexpectedly, the agency or department is responsible for finding an alternative placement for the child and supporting the carer through the transition.

Financial Counselling and Information

Many agencies provide financial information to help carers understand their allowances, eligibility for government payments, and how to budget for the costs of care. Nhanya Foundation’s advocacy and service navigation service can also help carers understand what financial supports they may be eligible for.

What Happens When Young People Leave Care?

Young people in foster care face a transition to adulthood that is, in many respects, harder than for their peers. Most Australians leave the family home at an average age of 23 or 24. Young people in foster and residential care are typically expected to manage independently at 18. Research consistently shows care leavers face elevated risks of homelessness, unemployment, and mental health challenges in the period immediately following their exit from the system.

Most states and territories have introduced extended care programs to address this gap. Here is what is currently available:

New South Wales

From February 2023, eligible young people aged 18 to 20 who were in out-of-home care for at least 12 months before turning 18 can access a “staying on” allowance to remain with their carer, or an independent living allowance. The DCJ Care Leavers Line on 1800 994 686 provides support and information. The federal Transition to Independent Living Allowance (TILA) provides a one-off payment of up to $1,500 for eligible young people aged 15-25 who are leaving care.

Victoria

Victoria’s Home Stretch program allows eligible young people to remain with their foster or kinship carer until age 21. Better Futures is available from 15 years and nine months of age. The COMPASS program supports young people aged 16.5 to 18.5 years who are living in or have recently left out-of-home care.

Queensland

Queensland offers the Next Step After Care program, which provides support for care leavers aged 15 to 25. This includes case management, housing assistance, and connections to education and employment.

Across All States and Territories

The CREATE Foundation provides services and programs for children and young people in care and those leaving care, including advocacy, peer support, and skill development programs. Leaving care planning should begin well before a young person turns 18, ideally from age 15, and include a formal Leaving Care Plan developed with the young person, their carer, and their caseworker.

Young people leaving care who are at risk of homelessness can also access the specialist homelessness services discussed in our guide to emergency housing in Australia. The connection between leaving care and housing instability is well-documented, and early planning is the most effective way to reduce that risk.

How Nhanya Foundation Supports Carers and Children in Care

Nhanya Foundation is a Melbourne-based community organisation whose services intersect with the foster care and out-of-home care system at several points. We support women, children, and young people with practical, respectful services that build stability, wellbeing, and independence over time.

Our services relevant to children in care, foster carers, and care leavers include:

• Advocacy and Service Navigation: case-by-case support to understand systems, follow through on referrals, and uphold rights with dignity. This includes helping kinship carers understand what financial and practical supports they may be eligible for, and navigating the assessment and approval process.
• Accommodation Support: for young people leaving care who need help exploring housing options, rental applications, tenancy support, or disability-related accommodation pathways. Our guide to emergency housing in Australia covers crisis options for young people at risk of homelessness after leaving care.
• Employment, Skills and Community Inclusion: support to build work readiness, everyday life skills, and community connection. This is particularly relevant for care leavers who are transitioning to independence.
• Youth Strength and Recovery Workshops: group programs for young people building resilience, identity, and connection after difficult experiences.
• Skills for Life and Independence Program: practical skill development for people working toward greater independence, including young people leaving care.
• Assertive Outreach and Stabilisation: for young people who are disengaged from formal services and need relationship-based support to stabilise before accessing structured programs. This service is particularly relevant for care leavers who have disengaged from post-care support.
• Disability Support Services: including Support Coordination and Specialist Support Coordination for NDIS participants, including young people in or leaving care who have a disability and need help navigating their NDIS plan and home and living options.

To speak with our team or to make a referral, visit nhanya.org.au/contact or call 03 8595 9012. Online referrals can be submitted at nhanya.org.au/referral.

Frequently Asked Questions About Foster Care in Australia