No Children Forced to Live in Unaccredited Emergency Accommodation After 20 Years

For the first time in 20 years, there are no vulnerable children living in unaccredited emergency accommodation. 

This means children will no longer be placed in caravan parks, motels and hotels with rotating shift workers, an arrangement that was found to often lack essential care for an already vulnerable group. 

In November 2023, there were 139 children living in Alternative Care Arrangements (ACA). 

Since then, the NSW government has reported that every child has been moved into a safer and more stable placement. 

Some have been safely restored to their parents, while others have been placed with foster carers, living in intensive therapeutic care homes or other accredited emergency arrangements, or have transitioned to specialist disability accommodation.

high cost emergency arrangements 

Last year, the Advocate for Children and Young People (ACYP) released its report on high-cost emergency arrangements (HCEAs) which found the cost of HCEAs ran upwards of $2 million a year per child; more than $38 000 a week. In comparison, a child in foster care costs a maximum of $74 000 a year. 

During the course of the Special Inquiry, 21 children and young people aged 10 – 23 years participated in private hearings, and 21 submissions were received from interested parties, including from the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), non-government organisations, individuals and young people. 

The DCJ noted in their submission that ACAs were a significant driver of OOHC budget pressure. 

“These arrangements are usually very costly and due to the nature of these arrangements their value for money is considered low. Until recently there has not been a consistent price point, there are variations in price and service delivery, as pricing is negotiated on a case-by-case basis,” the DCJ said at the time. 

Celebrating an end to emergency unaccredited accommodation

This week, the last child living in an Alternative Care Arrangement (ACA) was transitioned to more appropriate, supportive accommodation with an accredited provider. 

This reform effort to eliminate ACAs forever is significant in breaking down the barrier and providing support for vulnerable children. 

Despite significant progress, hundreds of children remain in emergency accommodation simply because there aren’t enough carers to meet the demand.

Minister for Families and Communities Kate Washington said, “When we came into government, more and more children were being placed in high cost emergency arrangements like hotels and motels. It was the worst symptom of our broken child protection system, and vulnerable children were paying the price.” 

Minister Washington has urged for an increase in foster carers across NSW, “Every single foster carer in NSW changes the trajectory of a young person’s life, and we desperately need more.”

Advocate for Children and Young People, Zoe Robinson called this move a “massive positive step forward”. 

“Children and young people who participated in the Special Inquiry made it clear that ACAs were not safe.  They were not like a home, and they were not with appropriate carers, they were with shift workers,” Robinson said.