The eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) is the Australian Government’s independent online safety regulator. 

Our purpose is to help safeguard Australians at risk of online harms and to promote safer, more positive online experiences.
As the first agency of its kind in the world, eSafety is at the forefront of preventing online risks, reducing the impacts of harms and building safer digital spaces.

The eSafety website has valuable information on social media laws, information on internet safety for Parents, First Nations communities and age appropriate information for Kids and Young People.

Yerrabi Yurwang is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and is owned and managed by Aboriginal People for Aboriginal People.

Yerrabi Yurwang works alongside agencies and providers to strengthen their cultural responsivity in the Out of Home Care System (OOHC).

Yerrabi Yurwang works across the health, social and cultural determinants and guided by the following principles which include:

• Aboriginal strength-based trauma-informed healing approaches
• The need for cultural understanding
• The impact of racism and stigma
• Honouring the centrality of our family kinship structures
• The impact of our true shared history and its consequential impacts of trauma, loss, grief, and anger
• Recognition of human rights and social justice
• Advocating for equitable needs-based funding models
• Universal access to basic care, health, housing, and education.

MindMap – ACT Youth Portal is a dedicated portal for children and young people (up to 25 years of age) to help navigate Canberra’s mental health system and to find the right service and support.

The find services page includes an optional  navigation tool which guides you to the most appropriate services and resources by asking you a set of questions about you and your current support needs. The navigation tool also includes options for parents, guardians, carers and support persons.

Minds Together is a program for family, friends and carers supporting someone experiencing suicidal distress or following a suicide attempt. Learn practical skills and strategies to navigate difficult topics, complicated feelings and respond to stigma while also exploring the impacts of caring and ways you can look after yourself.

There is a saying that ‘Taking care of yourself, is taking care of your child’. When you put time into caring for yourself, you have room and energy to be a present and calm carer. This lets the children in your care feel safe, secure and comfortable. So, how can you fill up ‘your’ cup?

A healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body for your overall wellbeing. Like physical fitness, you can strengthen your psychological health in lots of small day-to-day ways. This will help you live a happier and a longer life as well as help you to cope with stress.

This website gives you practical tools and resources so you can discover how to make the 5 Ways part of your ways to wellbeing. Everyone can ‘try the 5’ at home, work or during study. It costs nothing and it’s easier than you think!

This is a republication of the Carers Recognition Act 2021 (including any amendment made under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 (Editorial changes)) as in force on 10 June 2022.  It also includes any commencement, repeal or expiry affecting this republished law.

The Charter for Carers involved with ACT child protection services (Charter for Carers) sets out the basis for respectful, relationship-based, culturally safe and trauma-informed practices as carers, advocates and child protection and out-of-home care agencies work together.

“Ordinary People, Extraordinary Hearts” is an on-demand training program designed to support foster carers in creating safe, nurturing, and healing environments for children and young people in their care. This course is built around the idea that ordinary people with extraordinary hearts can make an incredible difference in the lives of children who have experienced trauma and adversity.

Throughout the course, you’ll gain insights from leading professionals and hear real-life stories from foster carers who have opened their hearts and homes to children in need. These stories bring to life the practical strategies and knowledge that will guide you on your journey as a foster carer.

Watch the introduction video Here

Contact kinship.fostercare@carersact.org.au if you have any trouble registering.

“Ordinary People, Extraordinary Hearts” is an on-demand training program designed to support kinship carers in creating safe, nurturing, and healing environments for children and young people in their care. This course is built around the idea that ordinary people with extraordinary hearts can make an incredible difference in the lives of children who have experienced trauma and adversity.

Throughout the course, you’ll gain insights from leading professionals and hear real-life stories from kinship carers who have opened their hearts and homes to children in need. These stories bring to life the practical strategies and knowledge that will guide you on your journey as a kinship carer.

Watch the introduction video Here

Contact kinship.fostercare@carersact.org.au if you have any trouble registering.

Barnardos
Because every child needs a champion.
Click here to learn about Barnardos

Key Assets
Serving children families and communities.
Click here to learn about Key Asset

OzChild
Every child and young person deserves a place to call home.
Click here to earn about OzChild

Australian Childhood Foundation
We are a force for childhood.
Click here to learn about Australian Childhood Foundation

Barnardos
Because every child needs a champion.
Click here to learn about Barnardos

Key Assets
Serving children families and communities.
Click here to learn about Key Asset

This information sheet also explains how a parent can arrange for submissions to be made to support them during the court process. An explanation of many terms you will hear used by Child and Youth Protection Workers (CYPS) and the courts is provided as well as what the different provisions of a Care and Protection Order and are what they mean. Support services for parents and families are provided at the end of the sh eet.

The purpose of this handbook is to provide you with information to support you in your important role as a kinship or foster carer. It specifically relates to caring for a child who is involved with CYPS and/or ACT Together in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

A reportable conduct resource kit and E-Learning module is available for carers employees and organisations governed by the scheme.

If you care for a family member or friend with disability, a medical condition, mental illness, or who is frail due to age, then Carer Gateway can help you.

Grandparent, Foster and Kinship Carer Advisers give tailored help for all non-parent carers such as:

• grandparent carers
• foster carers
• kinship carers
• informal carers.

Children living in out of home care are often trying to make sense of what is happening to them. This can include asking questions that are hard to answer. So, how you can respond to these questions to best help them?

Children with a history of complex trauma have often grown up in environments that are chaotic, unstructured and unpredictable where their safety and trust in relationships with their primary caregivers have been significantly compromised.

Depending on who the carer is and what environment the child is in, the child may use different strategies to communicate how they are feeling.

Moving placements and changing carers is a complex experience for children who have experienced trauma.

All children benefit from family visits when they are positive and meaningful. This is regardless of culture or if they are in short-term or long-term care. Find out why and what you can do prepare for positive family visits.

For children in out-of-home care, it can be difficult to know how they fit into their birth family and care family. Children, carers, and parents might be unsure what to call each other and who will be ‘mum’ or ‘dad’.

Children and young people who have suffered childhood trauma often live in a constant state of elevated stress. They experience the unfamiliar as threatening and rarely feel calm and at peace.

These guides will assist foster carers, kinship carers and workers to understand payments associated with the care of children and young people.

Carers need support to manage both their own needs and those of the people they care for during emergencies. They require physical and practical assistance, transportation, and emotional support, typically preferring help from family, friends, and neighbours.

It’s essential to involve carers in emergency preparedness education to create tailored plans, especially since those close to them might also be affected by the same disaster. Carer perspectives should be included in training for support networks and emergency services, and their involvement in Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction is crucial for effective government response.

Providing care for a loved one with a disability, long-term illness or frailty due to age is central to many relationships. There are around 2.65 million family and friend carers in Australia, more than one third (36.6%) of whom provide care for their partner. Caring is most often motivated by a sense of family responsibility (62.8%), or due to a feeling of emotional obligation (41.8%) (ABS 2019).

Providing care for a loved one, however, can have significant negative impacts on the social connectedness of carers and on their relationships with others. Data from the Carers NSW 2020 National Carer Survey shows that almost a third of carers (31%) are highly socially isolated, and another 25% have only low levels of social support. Correspondingly, carers have very low levels of relationship satisfaction with their partners, family, and friends. The personal wellbeing of carers is strongly correlated with relationship satisfaction.

On average, carers rate their satisfaction with their partner relationships at 50% (Carers NSW 2020), compared with 83% of all Australian couples (Wilkins et al 2019). Interestingly, the Carer Survey data shows that carers are significantly more satisfied with the relationship with their partner when the partner is the care recipient.

Although most carers (58%) feel that their caring role is recognised by their family, these results demonstrate the need for service providers to support carers and their families in their relationships, not only with the care recipient, but with each other.