13 hours ago
Foster carers don't do it for cash, but NSW budget investment could make real difference
There was little cause for delight among Treasurer Daniel Mookhey's budget revelations.
No exciting promises about shiny new metros.
No new handouts to ease the pressure on household budgets.
No credible path to achieving housing targets in New South Wales, although a $1 billion fund to improve supply will provide a welcome boost.
The government is stabilising debt and forecasting a surplus in 2027/28, the first in almost a decade. But that won't exactly thrill voters.
Ahead of every budget, treasurers are inundated with worthy funding requests and often those with the loudest voices win.
So, it's significant that this time around, the government is helping those who can't speak up for themselves — the state's most vulnerable children.
The NSW out-of-home care system is the biggest in the southern hemisphere, according to the government, with 14,000 children in the care of the state.
Last year, a landmark report revealed the depths of despair it had sunk to.
A chronic shortage of foster carers had pushed more and more children into temporary accommodation like motels and caravan parks, often under the supervision of unaccredited workers from labour hire firms.
The Advocate for Children and Young People detailed the squalid conditions some children endured, like cockroach infestations and having no access to shower facilities.
One child said they felt like a "doggy in the pound pretty much, moving cage to cage".
The record $1.2 billion investment announced on Tuesday aimed to turn the system around.
The government has already made solid progress by removing children from motels and will now use some of the new funding to attract more foster carers.
Cole and Gina Young, from Rooty Hill, have fostered many children over ten years.
They're currently caring for a 6-month-old boy who they welcomed into their home straight from hospital.
Mr Young said anyone considering becoming a foster carer shouldn't hesitate.
"It'll be the hardest thing you ever do in your life," he said.
"We all see on TV kids without a home, without a roof over their head in different countries and we say how horrible that is," he said.
"This is Australia and we've got kids like that here."
Families and Communities Minister Kate Washington said carers young and old, single or married, could become a carer.
"If you have got room in your home and your heart, please consider becoming a foster carer. We will support you," she said.
A tax-free allowance will rise by 20 per cent, meaning the carer of a typical 14-year old will receive more than $1,000 per fortnight.
As families face their own cost-of-living pressures, it will still be a major challenge to recruit enough carers.
People don't foster children for the money, but the new support will certainly help.
The funding package includes nearly $50 million for government-owned care homes.
There's also more than $190 million to recruit more than 200 new caseworkers and retain existing workers with higher pay.
Andrea Cartwright, a child protection worker from Ingleburn, said caseworkers experience chronic burnout and stress, with lack of staff meaning they can't perform the necessary welfare checks on children who might be at risk.
"Hopefully now with this new announcement that's all going to change," Ms Cartwright said.
"We're no longer the government's dirty little secret."
As with foster carers, there are no guarantees the government will succeed in its recruitment drive for caseworkers, but it's sending a clear signal that it values people doing difficult jobs.
The funding package is a significant win for Ms Washington who has fought hard within government to repair the crumbling child protection sector.
It'll be an even bigger win for the thousands of children who rely on it.
