Children and families

Child protection

All children deserve to grow up feeling safe, supported and loved. Our experienced and dedicated child protection practitioners investigate reports of children and young people who are at risk of significant harm, abuse or neglect. Child protection practitioners also refer children and families to services that assist in providing the ongoing safety and wellbeing of children, make applications to the Children's Court if the child's safety cannot be ensured within the family, and administer protection orders granted by the Children's Court.

Reporting child abuse and neglect

You should make a report to Child Protection if you have formed a reasonable belief that a child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm as a result of abuse or neglect and their parent is unable or unwilling to protect them. 

Care services

We support children who cannot live with their own families, overseeing arrangements such as foster care, kinship care, permanent care or residential care. We work with community service organisations to care for these children and to help them stay connected to family and culture. 

Family support

We know that children thrive when families have access to the support they need.

What parents do every day has the biggest impact on their children’s development and wellbeing, and it is important that they are supported in this role. 

We provide family support services to families with parenting challenges so that all children and young people have the opportunity to grow up in loving, caring and stable families and develop into healthy, capable and happy adults. 

We also provide quality programs that give parents the right support to build their skills and confidence and have been proven to make a difference for children and families. For more information, see our Services website.