NSW Out-of-Home Care Strategy

The NSW Government has released a new Out-of-Home Care (OOHC) Strategy. It sets the long-term direction for strengthening the OOHC program and improving outcomes for children and young people, families and carers.

Read the NSW Out-of-Home Care Strategy (PDF, 4.6 MB)

Our vision is for a world-class OOHC program that enables children to thrive in supportive, stable environments, and sees recovery and restoration for more children and families.

A new approach to OOHC in NSW

The OOHC Strategy addresses findings from recent system reviews and inquiries and outlines a coordinated plan to address longstanding issues with accountability, fragmented service delivery and inconsistent decision-making.

The OOHC Strategy:

• re-establishes the role of government as system steward
• clarifies program roles, strengthens governance, and enhances transparency
• improves decision-making for children and families
• supports more timely and consistent restoration and permanency outcomes
• expands Aboriginal-delivered care
• elevates the voices of children, families and carers, and
• expands access to specialist and therapeutic supports.

A staged approach to implementation

The Strategy will be implemented gradually over several years to maintain stability for children and young people while program redesign, commissioning and workforce planning progress. Service transitions will be planned in line with commissioning timeframes and operational readiness.

Changes will be carefully sequenced, with new services to be in place for:

• Home-based care and restoration – from July 2028
• Residential care and independent living – from July 2029
• Specialist aftercare – from July 2030.

Supporting resources

You can access supporting documents here:

• Fact Sheet for Carers  (PDF, 104.0 KB)
• Frequently Asked Questions (PDF, 241.7 KB)
  

These resources will be updated as more information becomes available.