More than 14,000 children and young people in New South Wales currently cannot live safely at home. According to NSW out-of-home care data, they rely on foster care, kinship carers and other safe adults for protection, belonging and a stable home.
When there are not enough carers, a child or young person may be placed far from school, siblings, community or their Culture. Multiple moves can affect a child's life, trust and recovery from trauma.
Bay Warburton, Wesley Mission's Executive Director of Community Services says the difference a foster carer can make is ‘incalculable.’ Everyday people are needed, not perfect people, not parenting experts, but adults willing to provide care, patience and a nurturing environment.
More than 14,000 children and young people in NSW need safe foster care homes, including long-term care options.
Almost any adult over 21 in good health can become a foster carer, including single people, renters, and people with or without their own children.
The foster carer journey usually takes 6–12 months, including training, a Working With Children Check, Police Check and Health Check.
Carers receive tax-free financial support, practical support, emotional support and 24/7 professional help.
The easiest first step is a free online information session with Wesley Mission.
You do not need to be married, own a large house or be a stay-at-home parent to become a foster carer. Wesley Mission accepts individuals from various backgrounds, including applicants who are single, married, or in de facto relationships.
To be eligible, you need to be over 21, living in NSW, in reasonable physical and emotional health, and most importantly be able to offer a safe home. Applicants are usually Australian citizens, permanent residents, or people with long-term permission to remain in Australia.
You can foster a child if you rent, have a mortgage, work full-time, study, are retired, have your own children or have no children. Foster carers are required to have a dedicated spare room for a child in care, although siblings may share a room if it is safe and appropriate.
Carers from every Culture, religion and family background are welcome. Carers who can support Aboriginal children and Torres Strait Islander peoples to remain connected to Culture, Country, religion and community heritage play a particularly important role.
Foster care isn't one-size-fits-all. Depending on your availability, living situation and what feels right for your family, there are several ways you can offer a child safety and stability.
For some carers, the entry point is emergency care. This is short-notice placements that can last from one night to four weeks, giving a vulnerable child somewhere safe while longer-term arrangements are worked out. It's demanding, but it can be a meaningful first step into fostering.
Short-term care is more common and can last anywhere from four weeks to two years. It typically involves supporting a child through a transition period, with the primary goal of reuniting them with their birth family when it is safe to do so. As a short-term carer, you play a vital role in that journey.
When reunification isn't possible, long-term care steps in. These placements are designed to give a child permanency and stability, sometimes until they reach adulthood. For many young people, a long-term placement is where they finally feel safe enough to settle at school, build friendships and trust the adults around them.
If you're not ready for a full placement, respite care can be a gentler way to begin. It involves giving other foster or family carers a short break, a weekend, a school holiday period, while making sure the child continues to be well cared for. Many carers start here before taking on longer placements.
Finally, kinship care and specialist care serve children with more specific needs. Kinship care keeps children connected to family, culture and existing relationships, with placements made through relatives or trusted community members. On the other hand, specialist and therapeutic care supports children with complex needs, whether that's disability, trauma, challenging behaviour or sibling groups, and typically comes with additional training and support from Wesley Mission.
Foster carers are never expected to manage alone. Wesley Mission builds the support around the carer, the child and the placement.
Foster carers receive tax-free financial allowances to help cover the costs of daily care for the child, including food, clothing, school items, transport and activities. This financial support is not a wage or salary, it helps ensure carers are not out of pocket. Higher allowances may apply for specialist placements.
Caseworkers provide ongoing support, assistance with planning, and regular check-ins for foster carers. Support can include 24/7 phone help, home visits on a regular basis, help with school meetings, and access to resources.
Foster carers often receive support from a child's care team, which includes professionals such as psychologists and education officers to address the child's cultural, psychological and educational needs. Foster carers have access to free, confidential counselling services to help them manage the emotional challenges of fostering. Many fostering agencies provide regular training sessions and information events to help foster carers develop skills and connect with other foster carers for support.
Where relevant, Aboriginal community controlled organisations may assist with cultural planning and connection.
Becoming a foster carer typically requires a rigorous screening, training and assessment process that can take 6 to 12 months to complete. The process typically takes between 4 to 7 months from initial enquiry to accreditation when checks and training align smoothly.
To start your foster care journey, take the following steps:
Contact Wesley Mission with any initial questions.
Attend a foster care information session, either an online information session or in person. Book an information session.
Take part in an initial home visit.
Complete an application form.
Complete your foster care training.
Attend an assessment interview.
Foster carers must complete a series of checks including a Health Check, Police Check and Working with Children Check as part of the application process. All applicants and household members over 21 must be eligible for a Working With Children Check Clearance, and a National Criminal Record Check.
The accreditation process for foster carers includes compulsory training to prepare you for the responsibilities of caring for children. Training can cover things like trauma, attachment, behaviour, contact with birth family, and legal roles.
Your assessment includes interviews, a home safety review, discussion of your home set up, motivations, and matching. Foster matching considers whether you can provide a stable and nurturing environment for that child's needs.
Fostering can be ordinary and extraordinary, on the same day. You may do school drop-offs, homework, meals, medical appointments, therapy, sport and bedtime routines in your own home.
You may also help a child maintain contact with their birth family. Foster carers are encouraged to remain connected to the child's cultural identity, religion and community heritage where possible.
Small moments can become the biggest difference: a child sleeping through the night, making a friend, celebrating a birthday, or trusting an adult enough to ask for help. You are part of a team, not alone. Written care plans, caseworkers, teachers, clinicians and sometimes cultural workers guide decisions.
Foster care all aim to give children safety and stability, but they are different.
Foster care is often temporary, with reunification as the goal where safe. Kinship care is provided by a grandparent, aunt, uncle, older sibling, family friend or significant community person, helping preserve identity and connection.
Adoption creates a permanent legal change of parents. In NSW, open adoption or permanent care orders may follow a long-term foster placement when a child cannot return home or live safely with another family member.
If you are unsure which path fits your situation, start with a foster care information session and ask questions.
The hardest part is often the first inquiry. There is no obligation to continue.
At a Wesley Mission foster care information session, you will learn the reasons children enter care, the types of care, expected timelines, financial support and how providing support fits with work and family life. You can ask what age range you might support, whether siblings are possible, and whether respite care is a better first step.
Contact Wesley Mission on 1300 325 627 to begin your foster care journey and explore how you could change a child's life, and your own.