Training and resources
Enhance your carer skills with comprehensive training courses and resources. From foundational workshops to specialised topics like trauma care.
Carer training
Enhancing your skills and knowledge is essential for the well-being of both you as a carer and the children in your care. It helps you develop the skills and knowledge necessary to provide safe and nurturing environments and ensures that you meet legal requirements and stay up to date with best practices in caregiving.
Training is particularly important, where specific skills and understanding of child development, trauma-informed care, and other relevant topics are crucial. Further, training boosts your confidence in your abilities. When you are well-prepared and knowledgeable, you feel more capable of handling challenging situations
AbSec is the peak organisation advocating for the rights and well-being of Aboriginal children, young people, and families in NSW.
Aboriginal foster carers are essential for Aboriginal children and young people, providing safe, loving environments deeply connected to their culture. A strong cultural identity boosts self-esteem, confidence, and aspirations.
AbSec offers support and training for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal carers of Aboriginal children. With 41.2% of children in out-of-home care being Aboriginal, we need more families to step up and offer the culturally enriching care these children need to thrive.
LINKS Training and Support develops targeted, evidence-based training and resources for out-of-home care professionals and carers. LINKS Training and Support works to improve sector-wide capacity across NSW. The team is part of DCJ Psychological and Specialist Services.
Nearly all kids in out-of-home care have experienced at least one traumatic event. LINKS Training and Support equips carers and professionals with practical skills and strategies to help kids thrive after trauma.
LINKS training and support
If you're an authorised foster, relative, kinship carer, guardian, or adoptive parent from out-of-home care, you can access a variety of FREE training options run by My Forever Family (MFF). You can choose from online or in-person sessions, or catch recorded webinars at your convenience. |
Carer resources
Accessing resources is vital for both your well-being as a carer and the children you support. These resources have been designed to equip you with the tools and information needed to create safe, nurturing environments while ensuring compliance with legal requirements and best practices.
Having the right resources enhances your understanding of child development, trauma-informed care, and other important areas. They also boost your confidence, enabling you to navigate challenging situations with greater ease and assurance.
Caring for kids guide (PDF 19.3MB) is a resource developed by Communities and Justice, to support foster, relative, and kinship carers of children in out-of-home care. The resource provides:
- Essential information: legal and policy details, roles and responsibilities of carers and others involved.
- Support and assistance: training, financial aid, cultural support strategies.
The safety and welfare of children and young people in out-of-home care are best served by promoting strong and close relationships between the child or young person being cared for, their carer and the designated agency.
The Code of Conduct aims to foster stable and positive relationships between the child or young person, their carer and the designated agency.
This Code of Conduct for Authorised Carers is a principle-based framework. It promotes the highest standards of conduct by authorised carers . It sets out the standards of behaviour that apply to carers. It also sets out the support and assistance that carers can expect to receive from the designated agency supervising the placement .
Being a carer is no easy task. Some days can be tough.
There are always issues that need to be solved and decisions made to help ensure children and young people have the support they need. This guide aims to help you work to resolve your concerns and understanding your rights about complaints as they arise.
While each caring or fostering journey is different, you may at some point experience change or loss and the feelings that come with this.
Building strong bonds with the children or young people in your care can make it difficult to cope when those relationships change or end. It’s natural to feel a sense of loss. This guide is here to help you navigate through change, grief, or loss. Even if you’re staying connected as part of the child’s support network, preparing for and managing change can still be challenging.
Grief and loss and end of life (PDF 352.65KB)