NSW foster care rules under scrutiny as Dominic Perrottet pledges review

NSW is one of the few states in Australia where foster care ends at age 18 and advocates are demanding the premier review the “outdated” policy.

Premier Dominic Perrottet has vowed to review NSW’s foster care system after furious advocates slammed the current laws as “disastrous” and “unfair”.

In NSW, foster care support ends when a child turn 18 with more help only available if vulnerable kids navigate a bureaucratic maze of red tape.

Advocates labelled the rules as outdated and NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory are the only Australia jurisdictions to make no progress on the issue.

“Young people in foster care deserve every opportunity in life and I will look into this to see if more can be done to provide them greater support and to make accessing support easier,” Mr Perrottet said.

“We must ensure our young people, especially those who have walked a difficult path, get the helping hand they need and set them up for lifelong success.”

Premier Dominic Perrottet said he will “look into” the foster care system. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

In 2020-2021, out of 5,500 young adults aged 18 to 25, just 2086 were given additional support after ageing out of care, according to answers from a budget estimates hearing.

Youth support organisation Stepping Stone House chief executive Jason Juretic said under the current NSW laws children were living their teen years in fear of homelessness.

“We know 60 per cent of all kids that leave care at 18 will end up homeless or incarcerated or teenage parents or unemployed,” he said.

“The outcomes are disastrous. They were simply born into the wrong family, so why should they live a life of disadvantage based on how the state government treats them?

“It’s unfair, it’s unkind.”

He’s calling for Mr Perrottet to allow foster care support until the age of 21 for any child that opts in.

Taya was in foster care growing up and her support from the government ended at age 18. Picture: Richard Dobson

Port Stephens Labor MP Kate Washington outside a pre-poll voting booth in Nelson Bay, Port Stephens.

“At such a young age, children have this sense of doom wondering what they’re going to do … They have to complete forms, substantiate their claims, fight for it,” he said.

A University of Western Australia study last year found that of the children who were provided care until 21 years, 70 per cent were in secure housing and nearly 60 per cent were in tertiary education or training.

Labor family and community services spokeswoman Kate Washington said the state “desperately” needed reform.

“NSW is the only state that kicks foster kids to the curb when they turn 18. Sadly, that is the harsh reality for too many of these vulnerable young people,” she said.

Like thousands of other kids, for her 18th birthday Taya May received the gift of homelessness from the state government.

“I was on track to move out of home … but then I had a motorcycle accident which drained my savings,” she said.

Her foster carers paid out of pocket to allow her to stay with them for a few months after her social worker stopped responding to her calls and meeting requests.

Now 21 and studying a Bachelor of Social Science, Ms May recalls sleeping on her friend’s couch and working at McDonalds in a bid to stay off the streets.

“What 18-year-old knows exactly how to be independent, yet foster kids are expected to know that without having any sort of mentorship … More often than not we are already traumatised and have more mental health issued than our peers,” she said.

“We don’t feel like we are being treated the same way that our peers are but we are expected to be more mature than our peers earlier on. My life would be extremely different right now (if I had support). I wouldn’t have been couch surfing for as long as I had, if at all.

“I would have started my uni degree earlier … I would be currently working full-time in my chosen career instead of struggling to be able to afford groceries at the moment. Life would be completely different.”

A Department of Communities and Justice spokesman said they provided a “discussion guide” to support children in sorting through “adult rights and responsibilities”.

“While payment of the care allowance will cease at 18, carers receive the Post Care Education Financial Support allowance if the young person is still completing Year 12 or equivalent studies,” they said.