The Commissioner for Children and Young People conducts systemic monitoring of Tasmania’s out-of-home care system. The aim of systemic monitoring is to ensure that systems work in ways that uphold the rights of Tasmanian children and young people in out-of-home care.
The legislative role of the Commissioner does not include handling individual complaints or advocating for individual children and young people in care.
Out-of-home care is overnight care for children and young people under 18 who can’t live with their families due to a range of child safety concerns, including having lost their parents.
For each night in 2024, about 950 Tasmanian children and young people are in care. That is about 1 in every 120 (0.8%) child or young person under the age of 18 across the state.
Former Commissioner for Children and Young People Leanne McLean conducted an own motion investigation into the introduction of a new Out-of-Home Care case management model that changed the allocation of Child Safety Officers for children and young people in care in Tasmania.
The following documents are the monitoring programs publications:
A Rights-based Monitoring and Evaluation Advisory Panel provides advice to the Commissioner and CCYP team about the monitoring program. The panel is chaired by the Commissioner and has the following members:
- Professor Sharon Bessell, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
- Professor Daryl Higgins, Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University
- Professor John Tobin, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne
- Dr Greet Peersman, Independent Senior Evaluation Consultant
- Professor Kitty te Riele, Peter Underwood Centre, University of Tasmania
If you have a complaint, have a comment or are seeking a review of a decision made by Child Safety and Youth Justice Services including out-of-home care, you can contact the Department for Education, Children and Young People.
Visit their website for further information:
Complaints – Child Safety and Youth Justice Services – The Department for Education, Children and Young People Tasmania (decyp.tas.gov.au)
If you are worried about the rights of a child in care not being upheld (including your own if you are living in out-of-home care), you can contact the Child Advocate for Out of Home Care:
Email: child.advocate@communities.tas.gov.au or
Phone: 0419 970 181 or 1800 549 725.
If your comment or concern is about the out-of-home care system generally, you can contact our office. See more information, below, for details.
Contact the office to find out more about the Out-of-Home Care Monitoring Program:
Email: childcomm@childcomm.tas.gov.au
Telephone: (03) 6166 1366