The Foster Care Association of Victoria (FCAV) has welcomed the release of the Victorian Auditor-General's report into Out-of-Home Care services and the important findings it makes about the experiences of children and young people in care and highlights the growing pressure on Victoria’s Out-of-Home Care system.
The report found that the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing is not fully meeting the needs of children and young people in Out-of-Home Care. It also found the department cannot consistently demonstrate whether children are receiving the services they need or whether those services are improving outcomes.
The findings highlight the importance of ensuring children and young people in care can access the services and supports they need, while recognising the vital role carers play in helping them do so. They reinforce that both kinship and foster care are essential parts of Victoria's care system. While kinship care should continue to be prioritised where it is safe and appropriate, the audit notes that Victoria's growing reliance on kinship care has occurred alongside a decline in foster care capacity. With more than 81 per cent of children in home-based care living with relatives or kin as at June 2025, the availability of foster care remains critical when kinship placements are not possible. The report found active foster carer households declined by 18 per cent between 2021 and 2025. It also states that the department has repeatedly told government that falling carer numbers are a major risk to the Out-of-Home Care system's stability.
Low care allowances are clearly identified as a factor contributing to declining carer numbers and references both departmental advice that the care allowance is inadequate and does not align with actual care costs, and FCAV data. Victoria continues to have the lowest base care allowance in Australia. The findings further highlight the barriers many carers face in accessing additional financial support and services.
Data showed the continued overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in care, who now represent 31.2 per cent of all children in care, despite representing a much smaller proportion of Victoria's child population. These findings reinforce the importance of Aboriginal-led responses that support connection to family, culture, Country and community.
The Victorian Auditor-General's report Out-of-Home Care Services made five recommendations to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH).
Strengthening foster and kinship carer recruitment and retention, including reviewing the adequacy of care allowances.
Improving monitoring of foster carer data to better understand carer availability, retention and future placement capacity.
Ensuring sufficient placement capacity across the system to meet the assessed needs of children and young people.
Addressing data quality issues and improving information systems to support safe and timely placement decisions.
Strengthening demand forecasting and planning to better respond to future service and placement needs.
The FCAV supports all five recommendations and considers their implementation critical to strengthening placement capacity, improving outcomes for children and young people in care, and ensuring foster and kinship carers receive the support they need to continue providing stable, quality care.
This report provides a clear picture of the pressures facing Victoria's out-of-home care system and offers a roadmap to strengthen support for children and young people in care, address barriers that affect carers and children and young people, ensure foster and kinship carers are meaningfully involved in shaping solutions, and provide adequate and sustained funding for a well-resourced system.
