CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE ACT 2008 - SECT 513 Priorities for placement with out-of-home carer—Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE ACT 2008 - SECT 513

    (1)     If the director-general is placing an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child or young person with an out-of-home carer under section 512, the director-general must place the child or young person with the first of the options mentioned in subsection (2) that—

        (a)     is available; and

        (b)     to which the child or young person does not object; and

        (c)     is consistent with any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander cultural plan in force for the child or young person.

    (2)     The director-general may place an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child or young person with any of the following out-of-home carers:

        (a)     a kinship carer;

        (b)     a foster carer who is a member of the child's or young person's Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community in a relationship of responsibility for the child or young person according to local custom and practice;

        (c)     a foster carer who is a member of the child's or young person's community;

        (d)     an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander foster carer;

        (e)     a non-Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander foster carer who—

              (i)     the director-general believes on reasonable grounds is sensitive to the child's or young person's needs; and

              (ii)     the director-general believes on reasonable grounds is capable of promoting the child's or young person's ongoing contact with the child's or young person's Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander family, community and culture; and

              (iii)     if family reunion or continuing contact with the child's or young person's Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander family, community or culture is a consideration in the placement—lives near the child's or young person's Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander family or community.

    (3)     In this section:

"Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander cultural plan", for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child or young person, means a care plan developed for the child or young person by the director-general under section 455 (What is a care plan ?) that includes proposals for the preservation and enhancement of the identity of the child or young person as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person.