A record number of delegates attended the National Foster and Kinship Carer Conference 2023 held in Hobart, Lutruwita (Tasmania) in September.
Carers and carer recruitment staff from MacKillop joined sector colleagues and carers from all over Australia to network, share best practice and be inspired to deliver optimal care to children and young people in out of home care.
National Childrens Commissioner, Anne Holland, addressed the conference delegates. Currently working on a review through Royal Commissions and up to 3000 recommendations, the Commissioner keeps seeing a consistent theme pop up.
“There is a lack of coordination between systems, and we need to improve information sharing, to stop kids from falling between the gaps,” she said.
Anne Holland also spoke about the importance of recognising the need for continued focus to support foster and kinship carers and the importance of keeping the voice of the child in all that we do.
“The wellbeing of adults has a huge impact on the wellbeing of children,” Anne added.
MacKillop carer Natalie Pryor, gave a presentation on her carer peer support website, Foster Care Connect.
“I wanted to connect with other carers, get advice from them and share stories. I went to everything to try and find the other carers like me – to find my tribe,” said Natalie.
Natalie quickly realised that there were barriers in place for peer connection, and moved to create a website, aimed at supporting other carers. It contains resources, guides and support contacts and has a space for hilarious memes. Natalie brought the house down by sharing these memes in her presentation as carers could relate and there was a lot of laughter in the room.
The conference ended with a Gala Dinner, to celebrate the amazing work of foster and kinship carers from across Australia.
