Australia has approximately 46,000 children in out-of-home care on any given night — removed from their families due to child protection concerns and placed in foster care, kinship care, or residential care. The out-of-home care system is primarily government-funded through state and territory child protection agencies, but significant gaps exist that philanthropy and community organisations fill. Understanding the funding landscape matters for organisations supporting children in care, foster and kinship carers, and funders committed to child safety and wellbeing.
Types of care
Key statistics
- Approximately 46,000 children in out-of-home care nationally
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are massively overrepresented — approximately 8x the rate of non-Indigenous children
- Most placements are kinship placements (relatives)
- Children in care have significantly higher rates of developmental delay, trauma, and educational disadvantage
- The majority of children enter care due to neglect (not abuse)
Out-of-home care is primarily a state and territory responsibility:
- NSW: Department of Communities and Justice
- Victoria: Department of Families, Fairness and Housing
- Queensland: Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs
- SA: Department for Child Protection
- WA: Department of Communities
- ACT, NT, TAS: respective territory departments
Commonwealth investment flows through:
- National Partnership payments to states
- NDIS for children with disability in care
- FaHCSIA programmes for specific populations
Paul Ramsay Foundation
Paul Ramsay Foundation invests in ending cycles of disadvantage — out-of-home care is a significant focus area given its connection to intergenerational disadvantage.
The Minderoo Foundation
Minderoo's Thrive by Five and related programmes invest in early childhood — relevant to prevention and children in care.
The Ross Trust
Victoria-based; invests in vulnerable children and families.
The Hamer Family Foundation
Supports services for children experiencing disadvantage.
Berry Street Endowment Fund
Berry Street (a major OoHC provider) manages some philanthropic funding for care-related innovation.
Perpetual Trustees
Manages charitable trusts across Australia — some focus on children's welfare.
Therapeutic care
Children in care often have complex trauma. Therapeutic care programmes:
- Trauma-informed care training for carers
- Therapeutic Living Model implementation
- Trauma-informed residential care
- Play therapy and art therapy for children in care
- Attachment-focused therapeutic support
Carer recruitment and support
Foster carer shortages are critical — organisations fund:
- Carer recruitment campaigns
- Carer support groups (peer support)
- Respite care for carers
- Training for carers (trauma, disability, cultural safety)
- Financial assistance for carers (equipment, activities)
Kinship carer support
Kinship carers are often grandparents or aunts and uncles who take on children without prior preparation:
- Emergency financial support (kinship care allowances are lower than foster care)
- Legal advice (custody, guardianship)
- Counselling and peer support
- Housing assistance for overcrowded kinship homes
- Cultural connection support for Indigenous kinship carers
Education support
Children in care have significantly worse educational outcomes:
- School engagement programmes
- Educational support workers
- School change management (children move schools frequently)
- Tutoring and homework support
- Post-school transition support
Transition from care
Young people leaving care at 18 face significant hardship:
- Leaving care transition programmes
- Independent living skills development
- Housing support (young people from care are overrepresented among youth homeless)
- Supported employment
- Ongoing mentoring after leaving care
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-specific
Given the gross overrepresentation of Indigenous children:
- Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO) care programmes
- Cultural connection programmes (for Indigenous children in non-Indigenous placements)
- Family group conferencing and family decision-making
- Reunification support maintaining family connections
- Healing and trauma programmes rooted in culture
Family preservation and reunification
The goal of out-of-home care is family reunification where safe:
- Intensive family preservation services
- Reunification support after return home
- Supervised contact between children and birth families
- Parent capacity programmes
Child safety above all
Child protection is the primary lens — applications must demonstrate commitment to child safety, safeguarding policies, and trauma-informed practice.
Sector relationships
OoHC funding works alongside government contracts. Show how philanthropic funding adds to — not substitutes for — government investment. What gaps do you fill?
Cultural safety for Aboriginal children
Any programme affecting Aboriginal children must demonstrate culturally safe practice, ideally community-led. Reference Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care principles.
Outcomes for children
Show measurable outcomes: educational engagement, placement stability, family contact, wellbeing measures. Placement stability is a particularly valued indicator — children who move frequently through placements have worse outcomes.
Carer perspectives
Involve carers — foster and kinship — in programme design. Carer shortage is a sector-wide crisis; funders value programmes that support existing carers and attract new ones.
Voice of the child
Children and young people with lived experience of care should inform programme design. Some organisations have care-experienced young people on advisory groups.
Tahua's grants management platform supports out-of-home care organisations and child protection funders — with programme outcome tracking, carer management support, child wellbeing measurement, and the reporting tools that help OoHC funders demonstrate impact for Australia's most vulnerable children.