Types of Foster Care

• Emergency Care: Providing a safe home at very short notice, often for a few nights, until longer-term plans are made.
• Short-Term Care: Caring for a child for weeks or months while reunification or longer-term options are explored.
• Long-Term Care: Supporting a child or young person over years when returning to their family isn’t possible.
• Respite Care: Offering regular short breaks (like a weekend or school holidays) to give carers and children time to recharge.
• Kinship Care: When relatives or someone already connected to a child (like a teacher, neighbour, or community member) steps in to care.

Within these categories, there are also specialised pathways:

• Caring for sibling groups so brothers and sisters can stay together.
• Caring for infants, teens, or children with additional medical or therapeutic needs.
• Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to stay connected to culture, kin, and Country.

Every type of care matters. Even if you can only help one weekend a month, you’re giving a child safety, stability, and connection they might not otherwise have.