Who can be a foster carer

We welcome foster care applications from anyone over 18 years. There is no upper age limit.

DCJ is a state government department that provides services to children and young people who are residents of NSW. If you live in a border town, please reach out to a member of our team. If not, you may wish to contact the relevant child protection government department in your state or territory to find out more about foster caring where you live.

Being legally able to live in Australia is an important consideration. At least one adult applicant needs to be either a permanent resident or citizen of Australia or have the legal ability to remain in Australia longer term. Our team are happy to discuss your individual circumstances with you.

We welcome applications from couples in heterosexual or same-sex relationships, single people, and those who are dating, including those in the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as people with or without children.

You will need to let our team know if you enter a new partner relationship or if you have any changes to the co-residents at your home, as they need to undergo background checks as part of the authorisation process.

(A co-resident is a person who stays overnight on your property for 21 nights or more in a year and includes granny flats, caravans, or other dwellings on the same property).

Whether you own your own home or are renting, what matters is that a child in your care has a safe and stable place to live, where they have adequate space for appropriate furniture, for their bed or cot and so that they can maintain their privacy in line with their age and development.

Pets can be a great source of comfort and companionship for children. As long as your pets are not considered dangerous or pose a threat to a child’s safety or health, you can apply to be a foster carer.

If there is a swimming pool or spa on your property, it will need to be compliant with the Swimming Pools Act 1992 and the Swimming Pools Amendment Act 2012. We will ask you to provide us with evidence of the pool registration and the Pool Compliance Certificate. An empty pool is still considered a pool under the Act.

We welcome people with disability and can provide adjustments to support you to be a foster carer. 

As part of the assessment process, our team will ask you to complete a health checklist and for your doctor to do a medical check to identify any support you may need. Having a health issue or disability does not affect your fostering application if you are fit enough to provide full-time care to a child. Everyone’s situation varies and we can discuss this confidentially with you. 

Those who smoke can apply to be foster carers. However, it is a requirement that you and any co-residents agree to no smoking inside a house or vehicle in which a child in care is residing or travelling and we require that you do not smoke when children of any age are in your presence. This is to protect the health of the child. Smoking includes cigarettes, cigars, pipes, waterpipes, e-cigarettes and vapes.

Many parents or carers work full-time or part-time and have children – foster care is similar. We don’t expect you to leave your employment if you become a foster carer. We also have many carers who are home full-time or who are retired which enables them the flexibility to meet day-to-day needs of a child in their care.

While DCJ provides financial assistance to help cover the costs associated with meeting the day-to-day needs of a child in care, applicants need to be financially stable, sufficient to meet their own needs and commitments.

We will apply for a police check and national criminal record check for you and all co-residents who are aged 16 years and over.

Having a criminal history does not automatically exclude you from becoming a foster carer. The nature of the offence and when it took place will be taken into consideration and discussed with you as part of the assessment process.

Driving is not essential to foster, certainly for those that live in areas with good public transport networks. There are several meetings and responsibilities involved in caring for children, including school runs for children who may be educated outside of a carer’s immediate area. Being able to drive can make achieving these expectations a lot easier. Feel free to talk to a member of our team about your circumstances.

Foster care authorisation can take up to six months as we assess an applicant’s suitability to keep children safe and meet their needs.

Understanding that children in care are likely to have faced difficulties in their lives is a big part of being a foster carer and our team is keen to support you with your learning and ongoing training. Our training ‘Shared Lives' foster care training will take 16 hours.

We can be flexible and adapt the assessment process to fit your schedule. We also run online and afterhours training sessions to suit individual needs.

It is almost always best for children to be cared for safely by their family. We work alongside parents and families to prevent children from coming into care but when this is not possible, we make every effort to find a placement with their extended family, kin, and community. This isn’t possible for every child, so foster carers play an important role in helping children maintain and strengthen their relationships with family and return home safely.

Even when children can’t return safely to their families, it is still vital we all support them to develop positive, lasting family relationships. This helps them develop a healthy identity. Children are more secure in foster care when they know that their carers know, accept and support their family.

While this can look a little different for each child, we work alongside you to ensure the experiences are positive for the child, and for you.