Safe and Supported

About Safe and Supported

The Safe and Supported National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021-2031 is a 10-year plan aimed at ensuring children grow up safe and supported in their families, communities and culture.

The National Framework will be delivered by 2, 5-year Action Plans:

1. The Safe and Supported First Action Plan 2023 – 2026 is the first 5-year action plan under the Safe and Supported strategy. It commits towards the shared goal of making significant and sustained progress in reducing the rate of child abuse and neglect and its intergenerational impacts.
2. The Safe and Supported Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Action Plan 2023-2026 will focus on achieving safety and wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. It was developed in partnership with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Group.

As part of the strategy, the Department of Social Services (DSS) has commissioned us, in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations to undertake 3 projects related to actions 5 and 6 of the First Action Plan, the:

1. National Out-of-Home Care Standards Refresh
2. Transition to Independent Living Allowance review
3. Foster, kinship and permanent carer payments review.

National Out-of-Home Care Standards Refresh

The National Out-of-Home Care Standards (National Standards) and National Out-of-Home Care Indicators (NOOHCI) were developed as a priority project under the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020. The National Standards were first published in July 2011 and have not been updated since.

The National Standards were designed to encourage the delivery of consistent and quality care to children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC) across state and territory jurisdictions. The National Standards, and associated measures and reporting mechanisms, were also designed to encourage quality improvement of OOHC care and supports.

The current National Standards consist of 13 standards across:

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

These domains were identified as aspects of care that can contribute to positive outcomes for children and young people.

In collaboration with SNAICC, we are undertaking consultation to develop recommendations for updating the National Standards.

We are consulting with:

• people with lived experience of the out-of-home care system (young people, foster carers and kinship carers)
• organisations and agencies in the out-of-home care service system.

Learn more about how you can get involved in consultations.

Transition to Independent Living Allowance

The Transition to Independent Living Allowance (TILA) is a one-off payment of up to $1,500 available to support young people aged between 15 and 25 years who are leaving or have already left formal or court-ordered care. TILA can be accessed as a one-off lump sum payment, or as up to 6 instalments of a minimum of $250. It can be used to purchase a range of items and services to assist young people when leaving care, TILA is an Australian Government payment that is administered by a lead non-government organisation (NGO) in each state or territory. The young person’s caseworker applies for TILA and manages the payment on their behalf.

We are reviewing the TILA payment to understand how usable and accessible it is and to identify ways to improve it.

Learn more about how you can get involved in consultations.

Foster, kinship and permanent carer payment review

Our 2022 report, Identifying strategies to better support foster, kinship and permanent carers, noted significant variation in financial supports for foster, kinship and permanent carers. Different types of carers and carers in different jurisdictions do not always have access to the same supports or can be eligible for different allowances and payments. We recommended a review of financial supports including exploring options for increasing the consistency and accessibility of available payments.

We have been commissioned to conduct a review about the payments and financial supports available to foster, kinship, and permanent carers and the costs of caring for a child in OOHC.

Learn more about how you can get involved in consultations.

Get involved

If you would like more information on how to get involved in consultations you can contact the project team.