New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS (CARE AND PROTECTION) ACT 1998 - SECT 78A

78A Permanency planning

(1) For the purposes of this Act, "permanency planning" means the making of a plan that aims to provide a child or young person with a stable placement that offers long-term security and that:

(a) has regard, in particular, to the principle set out in section 9 (2) (e), and

(b) meets the needs of the child or young person, and

(c) avoids the instability and uncertainty arising through a succession of different placements or temporary care arrangements.

(2) Permanency planning recognises that long-term security will be assisted by a permanent placement.

(2A) A permanency plan need not provide details as to the exact placement in the long-term of the child or young person concerned but must be sufficiently clear and particularised so as to provide the Children’s Court with a reasonably clear picture as to the way in which the child’s or young person’s needs, welfare and well-being will be met in the foreseeable future.

(3) A permanency plan for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child or young person must address how the plan has complied with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child and Young Person Placement Principles in section 13.

(4) If a permanency plan indicates an intention to provide permanent placement through an order for sole parental responsibility or adoption of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child or young person with a non-Aboriginal or non-Torres Strait Islander person or persons, such an order should be made only:

(a) if no suitable permanent placement can be found with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person or persons in accordance with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child and Young Person Placement Principles in section 13, and

(b) in consultation with the child or young person, where appropriate, and

(c) in consultation with a local, community-based and relevant Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander organisation and the local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community, and

(d) if the child or young person is able to be placed with a culturally appropriate family, and

(e) with the approval of the Minister for Community Services and the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.