Child protection, housing, and disability records

Records relating to child protection functions prior to December 2017 were primarily recorded in hardcopy (paper) files.

Electronic records prior to December 2017 were created in the Key Information Directory System ('KiDS'). These records were printed and placed on paper files and the electronic versions of these records have been migrated into ChildStory.

Physical files relating to inactive child protection cases and historical child protection records are stored in archives by the Government Records Repository ('GRR’), on behalf of DCJ. DCJ can search CommServNET (an indexed database maintained by the GRR) for archived child protection records relating to individuals or institutions.

Common file types include:

• Individual and or Family Files (also known as Child Protection ('CP') Files: These files contain information related to child protection cases. Files may have been created for an individual child or for the whole family. These files date from approximately 1981 onwards.
• Joint Investigation Response Team ('JIRT') Files: These files contain information relating to child protection cases involving sexual assault, serious physical abuse, and or extreme neglect. These files date from approximately 2007 to 2017. The JIRT was renamed the Joint Child Protection Response Program ('JCPRP') in 2018 and records are now stored electronically in ChildStory.
• Ward 'B' Files and Out-of-Home Care Files: These files contain information concerning children placed in out-of-home care (including foster care). These files date from approximately 1936 to 2017.
• Institutional 'B' Files: These files contain information relating to children who were committed to institutions in NSW prior to 1991.
• Family Casework 'C' Files: These files contain information about the parents of state wards and families where there were child protection concerns. These files date from approximately the mid-1950s until the late-1980s.
• Foster Carer Files: These files contain personal records regarding foster carers, and may include small amounts of information relating to any children they fostered.
• FACS Justice Files: These files include juvenile justice records dated prior to November 1991. For youth justice records dated from November 1991 onwards, visit Youth Justice records.
• Boarding Out Registers: These registers contain personal information of state wards and details of their foster placements. These date from approximately 1923 to 1936.
• Index Cards (Institutional Inmates)/Inmate History Cards: These cards contain personal information of institutional inmates aged under the age of 18 and date from approximately 1958 to the early 1990s.
• Ward Card Indexes: These indexes contain the personal information of state wards, dates of admission into care, and brief details of placements. These date from approximately 1935 to the early 1990s.

Since December 2017, DCJ has used ChildStory for electronic recordkeeping in relation to its child protection functions. This information technology system encourages collaboration between a child’s network of family, carers, caseworkers and service providers to ensure their safety and wellbeing.

ChildStory contains information relating to risk of significant harm reports, assessments of a child’s welfare and safety, case plans for children and young persons at risk of harm, JCPRP records, and other associated records.

Records held in ChildStory date from the early 1990s onwards due to the migration of electronic records from legacy information technology systems (including KiDS). Electronic records dated prior to December 2017 are likely to be duplicated on an associated paper file stored by the GRR on behalf of DCJ.

If you are seeking information about past adoptions, or if you are considering making contact with an adopted person, birth parent, or family member, please contact the Post Adoption Information Unit on 1300 799 023 or 02 9716 3005.

Visit Finding information on past adoptions for more information.

If you spent time in a children’s home or in foster care, you were in out-of-home care. People who have left out-of-home care are known as "care leavers".

Care leavers who were in statutory out-of-home care are entitled to request access to their personal information related to their time in care, free of charge, by contacting Care Leaver Records Access Unit. You can contact the Care Leaver Records Access Unit on 1300 137 160 or 02 9716 2500.

Visit Accessing your care records for more information.

OneTRIM is an electronic document and records management system used by DCJ to create and store electronic documents.

Housing records stored in OneTRIM include, but are not limited to: client tenancy files, ministerial correspondence lodged by members of the public, contracting and programming information, and electronic scans of historical records stored at the GRR on behalf of DCJ.

HOMES is an electronic database used by DCJ to manage all aspects of a housing client’s interactions with DCJ. HOMES records include details of housing assistance provided to a client (such as temporary accommodation and private rental subsidies) and tenancy management records (such as details of tenancy charges, contact with housing clients, and client personal data).

More historic tenancy files and records relating to DCJ’s housing functions may be kept in hardcopy format by the GRR on behalf of DCJ. Electronic scans of these hardcopy files are stored in OneTRIM.