Victoria’s base carer allowance for level 1 (age group 0-7) is the lowest of any state/territory in the table (see summary below in Table 1)
Victoria’s first age payment range is widest of any jurisdiction (0-7). This means that Victorian carers have to wait until a child turns 8 before they get an age-related payment increase.
A Victorian carer gets substantially less per fortnight for a 7-year-old child compared to carers in other states:
ACT—$250
Queensland—$213
NSW—$190 (pending FY update)
Northern Territory—$122
Western Australia—$101 (pending FY update)
South Australia—$96
Tasmania—$86
Three states (NSW, Queensland, Tasmania) have a three-tiered payment structure based on the needs of the child or complexity of the placement.
NSW offers the simplest and most comprehensible payment structure with 3 levels of payments according to complexity and payments for ages which are roughly aligned to educational stages (eg 0-4 pre-school, 5-13 primary school, 14-15 (middle school) and 16-17 (senior high school).
All payment amounts for all states in the tables below are fortnightly.
Table 1: fortnightly base rates of each state/territory for first age range
State/territory | Amount | Age range |
|---|---|---|
ACT | $620 | 0-4 |
Queensland | $611 | 0-5 |
New South Wales | $564 | 0-4 |
Northern Territory | $531 | 0-5 |
South Australia | $499 | 0-4 |
Tasmania | $466 | 0-4 |
Western Australia | $455 (incl. clothing allowance) | 0-6 |
Victoria | $446 | 0-7 |
The amount the Victorian carer allowance falls behind other states continues as age-based increments occur.
Table 2: fortnightly base rate of each state for second age range
State/territory | Amount | Age range |
|---|---|---|
ACT | $696 | 5-14 |
Queensland | $659 | 6-10 |
NSW | $636 | 5-13 |
Northern Territory | $568 | 6-9 |
Western Australia | $547 (incl. clothing allowance) | 7-12 |
South Australia | $542 | 5-12 |
Tasmania | $532 | 5-11 |
Victoria | $462 | 8-10 |
State Care Allowance Payment Documents
NSW
https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/download?file=327879
South Australia
https://www.childprotection.sa.gov.au/documents/fact-sheet/carer-payment-rates-loading.pdf
Queensland
Victoria
https://services.dffh.vic.gov.au/support-carers
ACT
Western Australia
https://www.wa.gov.au/system/files/2023-07/fostering_financial_support_info.pdf
Northern Territory
https://tfhc.nt.gov.au/children-and-families/foster-care-current-payment-rates
