This week is Foster and Kinship Care Week, and the NSW Government is honouring and rewarding the thousands of foster carers across NSW who provide safe, loving homes for children and young people in need.

A landmark $1.2 billion was committed in the 2025 State Budget to reform the child protection system. The historic investment includes $143.9 million to support the critical role foster carers play in keeping children safe.

From January 1, the base foster care allowance will increase by 20 per cent, representing the first real increase to the allowance in two decades. This will see additional support going straight to the volunteer carers who open their hearts and homes to the State’s most vulnerable children.

The NSW Government says it is committed to reforming the out-of-home care (OOHC) system, and in the first two years has already achieved meaningful improvements, including:

• Ending unaccredited emergency arrangements like hotels and motels as of April this year, to ensure safer placements for children and young people in care 
• Implementing Carer Support letters which clearly explain to carers what financial assistance they are entitled to, and what supports and services are available to the children in their care
• Providing paid parental leave for NSW Government employees who provide foster care
• Restarting the recruitment of foster carers by the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), recruiting more than 200 emergency and respite carers
• Creating DCJ-managed Waratah Care Cottages to better support children and sibling groups who would otherwise be in emergency placements
• Employing 300 family time workers to help keep children in OOHC safely connected to their parents

This Foster and Kinship Care Week 2025, the NSW Government is urging people to take the step and become a foster carer. The Department of Communities and Justice will be there to support carers with training, financial and professional support.

Foster caring can be both rewarding and life-changing. To learn more about becoming a foster or kinship carer, visit nsw.gov.au/fostercare.

Minister for Families and Communities Kate Washington said, "Foster and kinship carers are the backbone of our child protection system. They open their hearts and homes to vulnerable kids who need stability, safety, love and support. This week, we celebrate the incredible contribution of foster carers and call on others to consider joining. 

“Our landmark $1.2 billion Child Protection Package puts foster and kinship carers back at the heart of the foster care system in NSW. After years of being ignored by the previous government, we are backing our carers so they can provide life-changing care for children in need.

“Foster carers are everyday people who do something extraordinary – give vulnerable children the futures they deserve. I urge everyone to consider becoming a foster carer.

Department of Communities and Justice Secretary Michael Tidball said, “We are working to build a system that puts children first — where every child has the opportunity to thrive in a safe, nurturing environment. Our carers are essential partners in this mission.

“We thank foster and kinship carers for their wonderful efforts in giving children in their care a solid foundation for a positive future.”