The Foster Care Association of Victoria (FCAV) advocates for carers of children and young people to have access to strong placement support, appropriate resources, and a system that enables safe, stable, and nurturing care.
Victoria’s Child Protection system depends on a robust, well-resourced foster care program to deliver court-mandated, home-based placements for children who cannot live safely with their birth parents, kin, or extended families. FCAV’s advocacy is focused on strengthening this system so foster carers are properly supported to meet the needs of the children in their care. Ensuring there is a sustainable pool of foster carers protects children and young people from the known harms associated with placement instability and inappropriate care environments.
Victoria is currently facing an unprecedented foster carer shortage. Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that for every new carer household recruited, more than two leave the system, placing Victoria at the top of the nation for carer attrition.
While all Australian jurisdictions face recruitment and retention challenges, FCAV’s advocacy highlights that Victoria’s situation is uniquely severe. Contributing factors consistently raised by carers include:
Victoria’s Care Allowance being the lowest in Australia, with no increase since 2016, despite rising living costs and increasing complexity in the needs of children entering care.
Inadequate investment in child-specific health and education supports, resulting in carers covering essential costs out of pocket.
The absence of funded carer retention programs, including targeted and evidence-based strategies to attract and retain diverse carers.
Lapsed agreements, carer strategies, and policy commitments, which have left many carers feeling unsupported, undervalued, and excluded from decisions affecting the children in their care and their own lives. This has driven significant disillusionment and accelerated attrition.
FCAV advocates for urgent and systemic investment to ensure the safety, wellbeing, and rights of vulnerable children in Victoria. This includes immediate increases to the Care Allowance, improved recruitment and retention strategies, and a commitment to co-designing a system where foster carers are respected, properly supported, and empowered to provide their cost-effective and highly valued service to children, communities, and the State.
FCAV’s advocacy strategy consolidates the priorities of Victorian foster carers through our 4000 strong membership, forums and the Carer Census. FCAV engages with government, departments, and sector partners through liaison, solution-focused partnerships, policy advice and submissions, research, and by amplifying carer voices at all levels. Media engagement and public campaigns are central to this work. FCAV consistently advocates that stronger placement supports for children and young people are critical to reducing carer attrition and enabling positive, sustainable recruitment through word of mouth.
