Carers cannot afford to subsidise Australia’s child protection system
Australia: A major national review has confirmed what Adopt Change and carers across Australia have long warned: foster, kinship and permanent carers are being left significantly out of pocket, putting families under pressure and threatening Australia’s ability to recruit and retain the carers children need.
The Australian Institute of Family Studies’ Review of payments for foster, kinship and permanent carers finds current payments fall significantly short of the costs of caring for a child in out-of-home care and calls for governments to increase care allowances as soon as possible.
Adopt Change has long advocated for carer allowances to better reflect the real costs of providing children with safe, stable and nurturing family-based care. In April 2025, Adopt Change made a formal submission to the AIFS review calling for payments to cover the full cost of raising children in care, greater consistency across jurisdictions, improved indexation and recognition of the impact caring can have on carers’ employment and superannuation.
Adopt Change CEO and Chair of the National Foster & Kinship Care Collective Renée Leigh said the review reinforces what carers and their representative organisations have been telling governments for years. The Collective brings together state and territory peak bodies and organisations representing foster and kinship carers across Australia.
“Carers open their homes and rearrange their lives to provide children with the safety, stability and care they need. They should not be expected to personally subsidise Australia’s child protection system,” Renee said.
“We called for payments to properly reflect the costs of raising children in care and for a fairer, more consistent approach across Australia. It is significant to now see the national review reach many of the same conclusions.”
The review found the cost of caring for a child in out-of-home care is higher than raising other children, even using conservative estimates that exclude out-of-pocket health, dental and childcare expenses. It also found financial pressure can contribute to placement instability and deter people from becoming or remaining carers.
Kinship carers face particular inequities. Despite being eligible for the same payments and financial supports as foster carers, they are likely to receive less financial support. “Kinship carers are helping keep children connected to the people who know and love them, yet often they are financially disadvantaged for doing it,” Renee said.
The real cost of caring
Cole is an experienced kinship carer who, with his wife Gina, has provided emergency, short-term and long-term care and has cared for their grandchild for 11 years.
“The costs are the same as they are for any parent – nappies, formula, clothes, medication, food and all the basics – but children coming into care can also have additional needs,” Cole said.
“It might be sensory or therapeutic resources, glasses, dental care, speech therapy, physiotherapy or appointments with paediatricians and specialists. Every child is different and you have to think about what that particular child needs.
“Early intervention is so important. If you identify an issue early and get a child the right support, you can make a real difference. But that takes resources, from specialist appointments and therapies to simply getting children there while petrol, groceries and everyday costs keep rising.”
Caring also fundamentally changed Cole and Gina’s working lives.
“When my grandson came into care, there were so many appointments. We had run a gym and fitness centre for years, but eventually we sold the business because caring for him became a full-time job,” Cole said.
“The children I care for can have complex medical needs, so there are hospital visits, paediatricians, specialists, therapies and procedures to manage. You do whatever is needed for the child, but there is a real impact on your working life and finances.”
“Financial support means being able to give children what they need to thrive. Children in care have already experienced adversity. You don’t want to have to say, ‘We can’t do that because we don’t have the money.’ You want them to have the same opportunities as other children.”
Renee said Cole’s experience shows why adequate financial support is fundamental to sustainable family-based care.
“At a time when families are paying more for groceries, fuel, housing, health care and other essentials, we cannot expect inadequate carer allowances to stretch even further,” she said.
“Carers also carry costs that are harder to see – reducing paid work, travelling to appointments and reorganising their lives around a child’s needs. Adequate support means they can focus on giving children stability, accessing early intervention and helping them thrive.”
The review makes 38 recommendations, including increasing fortnightly care allowances in every state and territory as soon as possible, developing nationally agreed minimum payment rates, improving support for informal and permanent carers and ensuring children in care can access essential health and therapeutic services.
“Carers have been raising these issues for years. This review is an opportunity to change the landscape for carers and children across Australia. We have the evidence and a clear pathway for reform – what is needed next is implementation,” Renee said.
“Governments need to increase carer allowances and work towards a nationally consistent approach where financial support follows the needs of the child and their case plan, so children can access the care and services they need.
“Australia cannot strengthen family-based care while expecting the families providing it to carry an unsustainable financial burden.”
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Available for interview:
Adopt Change CEO Renée Leigh (Carter) (bio)
Cole, kinship carer
For all media enquiries and interviews please contact:
Ashton Kobler
ashton.kobler@adoptchange.org.au
0493 464 086
About Adopt Change
Adopt Change is a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to support and educate families and communities in caring for displaced children (including those in foster care or orphaned) to achieve our vision of a home for every child that is safe, nurturing and stable so that children can grow, learn, play and thrive. We provide support resources, training, education and programs to work towards achieving this goal.
Website: www.adoptchange.org.au
Instagram: https://instagram.com/adoptchangeau/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AdoptChangeAU
About the National Foster & Kinship Care Collective
The National Foster & Kinship Care Collective brings together state and territory peak bodies and organisations representing foster and kinship carers across Australia to provide a strong national voice on issues affecting carers and the children and young people they support.