Tuesday, 28 October 2025

 Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (01:54): (1364) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Children, and the action I seek is for the government to immediately reverse its cruel cuts to Victoria’s foster carers. In recent weeks, we have seen shocking reports revealing that carers looking after children with the most complex medical, psychological and behavioural needs have had their support allowances slashed by up to $100 a day with no notice, no explanation and no consultation. These are the same carers who open their hearts and their homes to children who survived unimaginable trauma, abuse and neglect. And now, because of the government’s cost cutting, they have been left out of pocket, forced to choose between paying for food, school supplies or therapy for children in their care.

The Foster Care Association of Victoria has confirmed that long-term carers across multiple regions have seen funding for high-needs children downgraded from level five to level one overnight. The government claims there has been no policy change, yet the evidence is clear: carers who once received about $133 a day are now being given an allowance of just $34 a day. Victoria already has the lowest foster care allowance in Australia, and the fastest loss of carers in any state, with 1300 foster households gone in just four years. Every time a carer walks away, another child is pushed into residential care, into environments that whistleblowers say are rife with violence, drug use and exploitation. This is not safety, this is failure. This includes carers like Sarah, who gave 18 years of her life and fostered more than 400 children, who are now quitting in despair. They feel disrespected, disregarded and abandoned. To quote the former commissioner for children and young people Bernie Geary, ‘The state is the worst parent imaginable,’ and every child that leaves foster care enters the arms of this, the worst parent imaginable. He went on to say that:

Kids who are in residential care are supposed to be on a journey to training and stability, but instead they are heading to the Melbourne Juvenile Justice Centre …

Even the current acting principal commissioner for children and young people Meena Singh has warned that inadequate funding is pushing children into inappropriate and unsafe placements and that stability of care is the key factor in whether a child maintains education and avoids entering the justice system. The government must immediately reinstate full support allowances for foster carers of high-needs children and ensure that no child loses their home because of government budget cuts.