FOSTER AND KINSHIP CARER WEEK

Ms BETTISON (Ramsay) (15:02): My question is to the Minister for Education and Child Development. I am aware that it was Foster and Kinship Carer Week last week, and I ask the minister how the government is recognising and supporting the contribution that foster and kinship carers make in caring for young people?

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI (Hartley—Minister for Education and Child Development) (15:02): I would like to thank the member for Ramsay for this important question during this week. I am very pleased to take this opportunity to applaud the unsung champions in our community who care for children and young people in their homes right across South Australia.

As members in this place are well aware, there are young people in our community who are vulnerable at times in their lives, and this means that they are being cared for by people other than their parents. There are, of course, many complex reasons for this, but what is critical is that our community provides a caring, loving, safe and supportive home in which these young people can live and go to school.

At the heart of our alternative care system for these young people are our foster and kinship carers. These are the women and men—some of whom are mums and dads themselves—who open up their homes and their hearts to young people who need a home in which to live. I was very pleased that we honoured these people and their families during the national Foster and Kinship Carer Week. This week does give us a very important opportunity to pause and to thank our carers.

As a government we are working to bring our services and supports together around children and families because we acknowledge very much just how important it is to provide every child with the best possible start in life. It is our foster and kinship carers who are right at the front line in providing care for these most vulnerable young people, so I was very pleased this week to join with them. There were lunches, morning teas and barbecues, and I joined them at a very special dinner to honour carers.

I am also pleased to report to this place that, in terms of new information, I was very pleased to produce quite a substantial booklet which has been provided to carers to assist them in their obligations in their role—and they can be complex, there is no question about that. However, I did have the opportunity to meet with about 150 carers, and I was in awe of, humbled—and, I have to say, entertained—by them, given the enormous contribution they make.

I also had the privilege yesterday of meeting with some of the children who are entrusted to me. It was suggested to me by Pam Simmons, the guardian for young people in care, a role which we created and which we are very proud to have created. She suggested that, and I was very pleased to meet directly with these young people in care. It was a tremendous opportunity for me to hear directly from them, and we had an opportunity to talk to them about some of their issues. So I can assure all members that we are working hard to support our carers and, of course, do our best for our children.