We want to ensure foster and kinship carers feel recognised, respected and genuinely valued for the crucial role they play.
Key information
- Updates will be provided four times a year and will be:
- sent to carers via email
- provided to FKAT and non-government service providers
- may be included in public school newsletters, and
- posted here.
- Meaning there will be various opportunities for carers to get the latest updates.
We will keep you updated on:
- The development of a Carer Recruitment and Retention Strategy, including actions currently being progressed to improve carer support
- Other policy, procedure or organisational changes that matter to foster and kinship carers, including those resulting from the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings (COI).
- One of these recommendations was to transfer out of home care to the non-government sector. We have been working with key stakeholders, including the Carer Advisory Group and a service provider group to understand views on this. We have also been working to understand how this works in other places in Australia. We will be providing you with more updates in coming months about what is next for this COI recommendation.
We are proud to continue working with the Foster and Kinship Carer Association Tasmania (FKAT) to improve support for foster and kinship carers.
May 2026
The Foster and Kinship Carer Advisory Group:
In early 2025, we worked closely with FKAT to establish the Foster and Kinship Carer Advisory Group. This group includes foster and kinship carers with diverse backgrounds and caring experiences and continues to provide advice and ensure the voices of carers are informing the work we are doing.
The Carer Advisory Group provides a forum for meaningful engagement with carers, chaired by FKAT to ensure independence and strong advocacy for carers.
Key achievements of the Carer Advisory Group include:
- Developing a set of Principles of Engagement for staff and carers to work together in partnership and build trust, that will be embedded in practice as we work to build a culture of respecting and valuing the role of carers.
- Providing feedback across various projects including the transitioning of Care services and the strategic planning for the future of Care services in Tasmania, and policies such as mobile phone, sleepovers and placement matching.
- Supporting the development of a Carer Recruitment and Retention Strategy. The purpose of this strategy is to address the key challenges carers face and improve the recruitment and retention rates of carers.
- Collaboratively developed an online Carer Toolkit, full of wellbeing, support and training resources specific to foster and kinship carers. The Toolkit also has a noticeboard function, where we will post quarterly updates for carers, too.
The Carer Recruitment and Retention Strategy is being developed through a collaborative approach led by the Carer Advisory Group, FKAT and the non-government service providers who support them.
We would like to thank the members of the Carer Advisory Group for their dedication, passion, honest insights and willingness to work alongside us throughout 2025 and into 2026.
Carer Liaison Officer
Re-establishing the Carer Liaison Officer position within DECYP is underway and the successful person will play an important role in actively building carer networks across the state and for creating opportunities for connecting within the community.
We hope to introduce the new Carer Liaison Officer to you soon.