Wednesday, 15 May 2024

Foster carers

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:19): (528) My question is to the Minister for Children. Minister, why was there no funding in last week’s budget to increase the foster care allowance?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:19): Thank you very much for the question, Ms Crozier. It is great to see that we are back traversing this ground again, because I am more than happy to continue to talk about the wonderful things that we are doing for our wonderful carers. Just yesterday I was having a conversation with Ms Bath about one of the wonderful carers in her community, who goes above and beyond to do the things that she does for the families in her community, and I have had similar conversations with many across the chamber. I want to take this opportunity to thank carers for the work that they do do. As we have said time and time again in this place, we acknowledge that our foster carers and our kinship carers provide loving and stable homes for many children who are certainly at risk of not having one in many other circumstances and who have often come from quite traumatic experiences. So we certainly want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution that they do make.

We have a care allowance here in Victoria which contributes towards the day-to-day costs of caring for each and every child in care, and that allowance is dependent on both the age of the child and the needs of the child. As we have said before in this place, there are indeed higher level care allowances that are determined on a case-by-case basis through an assessment which considers the complexity and the needs of each and every child and whether or not specialist services are needed to support that child in that foster care placement. We also have additional allowances. We have the new placement allowance for level 1 placements for the first six months of a new placement, we have the education assistance payments per year until the child is 18 and we also have the client expenses funding, which is available to cover other extraordinary expenses. So we do in many ways, through allowances and varying degrees of allowances, support the placement of children in the care of foster carers.

I am very pleased that the 2024–25 state budget has provided $38 million for improving outcomes for children and young people who are in home-based care. That funding includes the following elements: the continuation of the highly successful care support help desk, which we know carers have welcomed and have used significantly across the state; certainly the care hub in the Loddon area, which since November 2021 has provided earlier assessments, support and multidisciplinary care, importantly, to children and young people who are entering care for the first time; and the CaringLife app, which is another great service. As well as that, we are continuing the existing case contracting arrangements for 200 kinship care placements. That $38 million that is in the 2024–25 budget absolutely goes to continuing those really significant and important services that support carers in the important work that they do. Can I again thank those carers for the contribution that they do make.

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:22): Minister, thank you for that response. I know that you outlined some programs that have got increased funding, and I acknowledge the care support help desk that you also acknowledge. In 2022 a report conducted by KPMG recommended a 67 per cent increase to the care allowance, and I am just wondering: when you talk about all of those programs and the care desk, does that take into consideration that recommendation of increasing the care allowance by 67 per cent, as recommended by the KPMG report that was handed to your government?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:22): Thank you again, Ms Crozier, for your question and for that acknowledgement of those important services that are continued through the $38 million. I thank Ms Crozier for the acknowledgement of those services, which are continually being supported – and indeed supported in the most recent budget – through that $38 million.

As I have said many times before, the children in care are complex, their needs are complex and the ways in which we support their families are complex, and to simply break down the needs of foster carers only to an allowance is I think a short-sighted and simplistic way in which to consider the various supports that carers – foster carers, kinship carers and other carers – in our system need in order to support the children in their care. As I have said before, we have allowances. Those allowances are variable. They can be higher, depending on the needs of the child and the needs of the family, and there is always the opportunity for those to be further discussed in each and every instance with certainly DFFH to ensure that the right allowances are getting to the right families in care. (Time expired)