(VIC) Prioritise Sibling Placement in Out-of-Home Care
Author: Serena O’Reilly, Miya Latham, Georgia Riessen, Scout Salathiel, Abby Thompson, Hannah Park, Fideline Nkoso & Megan Yap | Publish date: 3/9/2026
CW: Child removal; Sibling separation in OoHC; Mentions of harm to First Nations people
P: In VIC, child protection legislation recognises the desirability of siblings being placed together in out-of-home care but does not require decision-makers to treat it as a priority.
S: The VIC Minister for Children should amend Section 10(3)(q) of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (VIC) to specify that priority be given to keeping siblings together in out-of-home care decisions.
E: Yoorrook Justice Commission (2024): ‘The Victorian Government must amend the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (VIC) to specify that priority be given to keeping siblings together in placement decisions (in out-of-home care).’
Problem Identification:
Section 10(3)(q) of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (VIC) (the Act) recognises the ‘desirability of siblings being placed together in out-of-home care’. However, unlike preceding considerations in the Section, it is not phrased as a ‘need’.
According to the Yoorrook Justice Commission (YJC), Australia's first formal truth-telling inquiry investigating historical and ongoing systemic injustices against First Peoples, this means that ‘sibling placement has not been given enough priority by the Victorian Government.’ CREATE Foundation, a national advocacy body for children in out-of-home care (OoHC), reported that sibling separation ‘runs the risk of compounding the loss, anxiety, and grieving even more—potentially re-traumatising the young person’. The Family Matters Report (2025) by the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care found that First Nations children are ‘more likely to be in OOHC than non-Indigenous children.’
Context:
The Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care (CETC) refers to siblings as including ‘full or half siblings ... step-siblings [and] ... foster/adopted siblings.’ The VIC Government refers to OoHC as ‘a temporary, medium or long-term living arrangement for children … who cannot live in their family home.’ OoHC is covered by court-ordered care arrangements, including foster, kinship, permanent, and residential care.
The VIC Auditor-General's Office (VAGO) reported that 9,353 children were in OoHC as of 30 June 2025, with 26.1% of children placed alone without siblings. As of June 2025, First Nations children represented 31.2% of all children in Victoria’s OoHC.
Arguments:
According to a report released by CREATE Foundation (2023), separating siblings in OoHC ‘runs the risk of compounding the loss, anxiety, and grieving even more—potentially re-traumatising the[m].’ CETC noted that ‘the sibling relationship may be one of the only lasting connections that children [in OoHC] have’. CREATE Foundation reported the loss of sibling connection as ‘the most traumatic event’ that a child in OoHC care can experience. They further reported that one child in OoHC said, ‘I just want to live with [my siblings], but I don't talk about it because it makes me upset’.
The Family is Culture Report (2019) argued the need to place First Nations siblings together in OoHC. Target 12 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (2020) found that ‘the over representation of First Nations children in the child protection system reflects the history of colonisation’. The National Indigenous Australians Agency, established to ensure the needs and aspirations of First Nations peoples are met through government policies, programs and services, affirmed that this disconnection is ‘linked to … intergenerational trauma’. The Family is Culture Report further reiterated the harm of this trauma to a First Nations child’s ‘wellbeing and sense of identity’. The report highlighted research undertaken on the importance of sibling connection through interviews with First Nations children in OoHC, where they ‘discussed missing their parents and brothers and sisters, being homesick and wanting to go home.’ The research also said that these children ‘focused almost exclusively on the importance they placed on connection to family, community and culture’ in those interviews.
Advice/Solution Identification:
The YJC and CREATE Foundation have called for priority to be given to keeping siblings together in out-of-home care and permanent placement decisions. CREATE Foundation’s 2015 report emphasised ‘if siblings were placed together, they were less likely to remain in care’, and were ‘more likely than others to feel emotionally supported, and to feel closer to their caregivers.’
Precedent:
There is international precedent for prioritising sibling placement in OoHC and permanent placements. In USA states such as Florida, Colorado and Minnesota, priority requirements exist for siblings to be placed together where possible.
Public Support of the Solution:
(This list reflects publicly stated positions and should not necessarily be taken as endorsement of this specific brief.)
Broad Support:
Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care National Voice for Our Children (SNAICC) - They have supported giving precedence in placing First Nations Siblings together during OoHC decisions. However, they do not provide a specific recommendation for statutory prioritisation.
Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care - They have researched and provided a brief concluding that Care Teams should prioritise a proactive approach to sibling groups in out-of-home care. However, they do not call for legislative change which gives priority to sibling placements.
News Coverage:
ABC News - “Report finds Indigenous children 10.5 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children”. This article discussed the release of the Family Matters report and the unique vulnerabilities experienced by First Nations children in OoHC. By: Lee Robinson | 29 November 2023 - Read the article here.
Carers for Kids - “Carly’s Story - Experienced Sibling Carer”. This article documented real experiences of forming a ‘large family support network’ through becoming a carer for sibling groups. By: Carers for Kids | 1 July 2022 - Read the article here.
ABC News - “Former Mother of the Year says she can no longer foster children under ‘smashed’ system”. This article by the 2019 ACT Mother of the Year addressed concerns about the ACT foster care system over claims of ‘retraumatising vulnerable children’. By: Adam Shirley and Tahlia Roy | 22 April 2021 - Read the article here.
Uniting Vic.Tas - “More support for brothers and sisters in out-of-home care”. This article announced the launch of the Keeping Connected Program, a program that aims to lessen the statistics of sibling separation through maintaining children's support in relationships and prioritising meaningful contact. No Author Listed | 11 April 2018 - Read the article here.
Where to go to learn more:
(2024) Report into Victoria’s Child Protection and Criminal Justice Systems | Yoorok Justice Commission (YJC) - This report was the culmination of the YJC’s year-long inquiry into Victoria's child protection and criminal justice systems, and provided insight into the unique harms to First Nation’s children in these systems. The report recommended that ‘priority be given to keeping siblings together in placement decisions (in out-of-home care).’ Read the report here.
(2023) Sibling Connection in SA | CREATE Foundation - This report interviewed 26 young people with an out-of-home care experience to find out how they felt about their relationship with their siblings. Read the report here.
(2024) Victorian Government Response to the Yoorrook for Justice Report | VIC Government - This was the reply from the Victorian Government to the Yoorrook for Justice Commission’s report. The Victorian Government specifically responded to the recommendation that ‘priority be given to keeping siblings together in placement decisions (both in out of home care)’. In this reply, the recommendation was categorised as an urgent reform, however, they provided no guidance on how or when any change would be actioned. Read the report here.
(2015) Sibling Placement and Contact in Out-Of-Home Care | Better Care Network - This report, comprised of surveys conducted with youth and children in OoHC, showed the positive effect when children were placed together in Australia’s OoHC system. Read the report here.
(2026) The care crisis Victoria cannot afford to ignore | Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare - This report urged changes in OoHC to provide foster carers with security and invest in improving the lives of children. It informed how barriers to fostering can only be overcome when vulnerable children’s needs are met. Read the report here.
Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (VIC) - Read the full Act here.
Human Perspective:
CW: child removal, sibling separation in OoHC, mentions of harm to First Nations people
Kirra is 9 years old and a proud Aboriginal girl from Western VIC. She has moved homes 4 times since she and her 2 younger brothers were removed from their parents. For the first year, all 3 children lived together with a foster family in regional VIC. At night, Kirra would tell her brothers the stories their Nan used to tell her, about the river that runs through their Country and the animals that lived there. Then the placement broke down, and a caseworker told Kirra she'd be moving to a new home near Melbourne on her own, away from her brothers. Nobody could tell her when she'd see them again. Now Kirra sees her brothers for an hour every few weeks, at a shopping centre, supervised by carers who don't know each other. She keeps a special rock her brother painted for her by her bedside, a blue pond with a yellow circle in it. Kirra misses her brothers and the version of herself that existed when they were all in the same house. She has become withdrawn and anxious, often worrying about whether her brothers are safe or whether they still remember her and the stories they shared. The loss of those everyday moments with her brothers has made it harder for her to feel connected to her family, her culture, and the sense of belonging she once had.
To protect the anonymity of those involved, this is a fictionalised account drawn from an amalgamation of real-life stories, experiences and testimonials gathered during the research process for this brief. Any resemblance to actual individuals is purely coincidental.
Conflict of interest/acknowledgment statement:
N/A.
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Reference list:
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