Best Foster Care Resource for Kinship Carers in Western Australia

If you are a kinship carer in Western Australia — a grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, or person with a significant relationship to a child who has been placed in your care by the Department of Communities — the best preparation resource for you is one that treats kinship care as its own distinct pathway, not a subcategory of general foster care. Here is the direct answer: kinship care can involve different timing and practical questions from general foster care, particularly when a child is placed before the full assessment is complete. The standard foster care guides are not written for your situation. Most of what you urgently need to know in the first weeks of a placement — what subsidy you're entitled to, what training is required, what rights you have over decisions about the child — is not clearly explained anywhere the Department of Communities or the agencies send you.

This page explains the kinship care pathway in WA, what distinguishes it from general foster care, and what a preparation resource needs to cover to be genuinely useful in your situation.

Who Kinship Carers Are in Western Australia

In WA, kinship care involves placing a child with a relative or a person who has a significant pre-existing relationship with the child. This includes:

• Grandparents
• Aunts and uncles
• Adult siblings
• Cousins
• Long-term family friends or community members with a meaningful relationship to the child
• Aboriginal community members with a cultural relationship to the child (under the ATSICPP placement hierarchy)

Kinship care is the preferred placement option in WA under the Children and Community Services Act 2004, particularly for Aboriginal children, where it sits at the top of the placement hierarchy above non-Aboriginal foster carers. This preference means the Department often moves quickly to place a child with a kinship carer — sometimes faster than the carer is prepared for — which creates its own set of challenges.

The Critical Difference: Kinship Carers Are Often Placed Before They Are Authorised

General foster carers commonly complete a four-to-six-month authorisation process — training, assessment, and panel review — before a child is placed with them. Kinship carers are often placed with a child first, then assessed and authorised afterwards.

This is the central reality that most resources fail to address. When the Department places your grandchild, your niece, or a family connection with you in an emergency situation, you become responsible for that child immediately. The formal authorisation process — the Fostering Foundations training, the competency assessment, the WWCC for all household members — is still required, but it happens while you are already caring for the child.

This creates a specific set of urgent needs that no general fostering guide addresses:

What subsidy am I entitled to right now? Ask the Department or your caseworker when subsidy payments begin and how payments are handled for your placement. The reported 2026-27 age-based rates for foster and family carers are approximately $462.50 per fortnight for a child aged 0-6, $544.59 for 7-12, and $626.67 for 13-17, based on the 10% uplift.

What decisions can I make about the child? The legal authority over a child in DoC custody sits with the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Communities, not with the carer. Ask your caseworker which medical, school, travel, and birth-family-contact decisions require notification or approval for this placement, and ask for that information at the start of the arrangement.

What do I need to do about the Working with Children Check? The WWCC is required for all kinship carers and all adults in the household, just as it is for general foster carers. But in a kinship emergency placement, you may be caring for the child before every household member has their WWCC. Ask the Department what interim arrangement applies, what restrictions are in place, and what timeline is expected while checks are processed.

Who This Is For

• Grandparents who have had a grandchild placed with them by the Department, with or without prior notice
• Aunts, uncles, or adult siblings who are providing care for a child in an emergency situation
• People with a significant cultural or community relationship to a child who has been placed in their care under the ATSICPP hierarchy
• Kinship carers who have been caring for a child informally and are now being asked to formalise the arrangement through the authorisation process
• Kinship carers who have received their initial placement and now need to understand their rights, their subsidy, and what the formal authorisation process requires of them

Who This Is NOT For

• People who are planning to become general foster carers and have not yet had any placement — the general foster care guide is the right starting point
• Kinship carers who are already authorised and are looking for post-authorisation support — the Foster Care Association of WA (FCAWA) and OurSPACE WA are the right resources at that stage
• People considering a Special Guardianship Order as the end goal — while the guide addresses the permanency pathway, SGO-specific legal advice requires a solicitor, not a preparation guide

What the WA Kinship Care Pathway Involves

The kinship care authorisation process can involve the same assessment, training, WWCC, home-environment, and panel steps as general foster care, but the timing can differ because the child may already be placed. The Department or agency will confirm which requirements apply to your arrangement.

Stage 1: Interim arrangement. When the Department places a child with you in an emergency, ask what interim arrangement and permissions apply while the formal process begins.

Stage 2: Working with Children Check. All adults in your household need to be checked. Ask the Department what provisional arrangement applies while WWCCs are processed. Historical matters may trigger a Screening Unit review, which can add months to processing times — understanding this early matters.

Stage 3: Fostering Foundations training. The standard Fostering Foundations program is 18 hours. Ask whether it applies to your placement and how it will be scheduled. In the context of already caring for a child, the concepts of developmental trauma, attachment, and working with birth families are immediately practical.

Stage 4: Competency assessment. If a competency assessment is required, it covers the same five areas reported for general carers: Promoting Wellbeing, Providing a Safe Living Environment, Working in Partnership, Developing Personal Knowledge, and Character and Repute. Ask the assessor how many interviews are required and how the current placement will be considered.

Stage 5: Panel review and authorisation. The authorisation panel reviews the assessment report. The approving authority will confirm your authorisation status and any conditions that apply.

The Financial Reality for Kinship Carers

Kinship carers in WA are entitled to the same subsidy structure as general foster carers:

• Fortnightly base subsidy by age group (with the 2026-27 10% uplift)
• Clothing allowances three times per year
• KidSport vouchers ($300 per year per child)
• Access to the Foster and Grand Carer Gold Card (energy bill relief and attraction discounts)
• Special needs loading for children with high medical or behavioural needs

If payments have not started, ask your caseworker when they should begin and how to address any gap. Keep records of placement dates, approved expenses, and your requests for information.

Beyond the formal subsidy, kinship carers often carry costs that the subsidy doesn't account for: adjustments to their own living arrangements to accommodate the child, loss of income from reduced work hours, increased grocery and transport costs. The subsidy is a reimbursement of the child's costs — it is not a wage and does not reflect the full financial impact of taking on a placement at short notice.

The Special Guardianship Order Pathway

Many kinship carers in WA are interested in providing a permanent home, not just temporary care. Western Australia's Children and Community Services Act 2004 provides for Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) — formerly known as Enduring Parental Responsibility — which transfer most parental responsibility to the carer until the child is 18.

An SGO is not available immediately. The system's primary goal is reunification with the birth family where safe. An SGO typically becomes available after the Department has exhausted reunification efforts and the court is satisfied that a permanent placement with the kinship carer is in the child's best interest. The realistic timeline varies enormously depending on the child's circumstances and the court's assessment.

Understanding this pathway — when it becomes available, what it involves, and how to prepare emotionally for a process that starts with temporary care and may or may not lead to permanency — is one of the most important things a kinship carer can learn in the first months of a placement. It reframes the temporary nature of the initial arrangement as a stage in a longer process, not a permanent uncertainty.

Aboriginal Kinship Carers and the ATSICPP

For Aboriginal kinship carers in WA, the ATSICPP placement hierarchy positions you at the top of the preference order for Aboriginal children. This is both a legal protection for the child's cultural connection and a practical reality of the WA system: Aboriginal children are significantly over-represented in out-of-home care, and the Department's strong preference is for placement within family and community.

Aboriginal kinship carers have access to specific support through Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) like Yorganop and Wungening Aboriginal Corporation. These organisations provide culturally grounded support that is distinct from the general foster care support model. For Aboriginal kinship carers, engaging with these organisations alongside (or instead of) the DoC or a mainstream NGA is an important part of the support network.

Tradeoffs

Kinship care versus general foster care:

• Kinship care preserves the child's existing family and community connections, which is better for the child's sense of identity and belonging
• Kinship carers receive the same subsidy and support entitlements as general foster carers
• The emotional complexity is different: you are caring for a family member's child, which brings pre-existing family dynamics, grief, and loyalty conflicts that general foster carers do not navigate
• The authorisation process is the same in structure but harder in timing — you are being assessed while already responsible for the child

Proceeding without a preparation resource:

• The DoC and your assigned caseworker will guide you through the formal process
• The guidance typically covers what is legally required, not the strategic and practical questions kinship carers find most pressing in the first weeks
• Understanding your subsidy entitlements, decision-making authority, and the permanency pathway before you need that information is always better than discovering it six months in

Frequently Asked Questions

Am I entitled to subsidy payments from the day the child is placed with me?

Ask your DoC caseworker when subsidy payments should begin for your placement and how to address any gap. If you need help raising a payment question, FCAWA's support line is 1800 497 101.

Do I need to complete the same training and assessment as general foster carers?

The standard pathway includes Fostering Foundations and competency assessment. Ask your caseworker which requirements apply to your kinship placement and how the timing will work while you are caring for the child.

What rights do I have to make decisions about the child in my care?

During the care period, the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Communities holds legal parental responsibility for the child. Your caseworker can explain which day-to-day decisions are within your authority and which medical, school, travel, or birth-family-contact decisions require notification or formal approval for your specific placement.

What is a Special Guardianship Order and how do I get one?

A Special Guardianship Order (SGO) transfers most parental responsibility to the carer until the child is 18, providing greater legal permanency than standard foster care authorisation. Ask the Department and a solicitor about the application and court process; the court must be satisfied that an SGO is in the child's best interest. This typically comes after the Department has exhausted reunification efforts. SGOs cannot be applied for immediately; they are the end of a process, not the beginning.

Can I foster additional children beyond the family member currently placed with me?

Whether you can accept additional placements depends on your authorisation conditions and current household capacity. Ask your caseworker how any additional placement would be assessed and matched.

What support is available specifically for kinship carers in WA?

The Foster Care Association of WA (FCAWA) provides specific advocacy and support for kinship carers, including a 24-hour telephone support line (1800 497 101) and free membership upon authorisation. OurSPACE WA offers free specialised counselling for foster and family carers. Your DoC caseworker or NGA support worker is your primary day-to-day contact. For Aboriginal kinship carers, Yorganop and Wungening Aboriginal Corporation provide culturally grounded support.

The Western Australia Foster Care Guide includes a dedicated section on the kinship care pathway — covering interim arrangements, questions about subsidy payments, decision-making authority, the WWCC process for existing households, and the Special Guardianship Order timeline — because kinship carers in WA need different information, on a different timeline, than general applicants.

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