We are excited to announce the launch of the National Care Conference website including an early bird Registration Portal and Calls for Abstracts. Thi ..read more

Kerryn Longmuir Kerryn has been a carer with Berry St for 39 years and in that time has had a long association with the FCAV to support her in her car ..read more

Victorian foster carers still waiting for major allowance increase The state government was urged to make major changes to the foster system last year ..read more

Comparative care allowance rates per jurisdiction in Australia Join the Care Allowance Campaign here. Victoria’s base carer allowance for level 1 (age group 0-7) is the lowest of any state/territory in the country by a significant margin. (See Table 1)   Victoria’s first age payment range is widest of any jurisdiction (0-7). This means that Victorian carers have to wait until a child turns 8 before they get an age-related payment increase.   A Victorian carer gets substantially less per fortnight to care for a 7-year-old child compared to carers in other states. The amount a Vic ..read more

The Foster Care Association of Victoria (FCAV) has developed the CARE Principle which is intended as a scaffold for conversation and reflective practice across the home-based care sector.   It was borne from acknowledging the need for attention and priority to be given to the wellbeing and CARE of volunteer caregivers, whilst highlighting some fundamental principles of practice which seek to both recognise the value of carers, as well as enhance their overall experience in the sector. It is a tool to guide practice and using the word CARE to focus on key factors to inform and enhance care ..read more

FCAV Road Show   FCAV is committed to connecting and developing our relationships with our members and foster care agencies and to that end has embarked upon a 12 month in-person roadshow across Victoria beginning in July 2023. The visits have been a fabulous opportunity to connect with carers and staff in person and be able to promote the services available through FCAV and provide carers and teams with information on FCAV services and offerings, and hear from carers and staff across Victoria about the work, advocacy and support needs that are priorities for them.   Between them Sam ..read more

A huge delegation of foster and kinship carers as well as workers in care services, arrived in Hobart for the National Foster and Kinship Care Conference in Tasmania with Foster and Kinship Carers Association of Tasmania. Over three days in September each took part in sharing and learning about the needs, rights and voices of children and young people in care and their carers, from around the country.    Keynote speaker, Anne Hollonds, National Children’s Commissioner, opened the Conference. She asked for the commonwealth to draw jurisdictions together to form a bi-partisan, multi se ..read more

 Foster Care Week is an annual event celebrating and raises awareness about foster care; the carers providing it and their role in the lives of the children and young people of Victoria who need them.   The events and celebrations held during foster care week aim to highlight and appreciate our valuable pool of foster carers and the contribution they make in the lives of children and young people and to the community.   The FCAV takes Foster Care Week as an important time to elevate the carer voice and build on sector engagement, to highlight advocacy priorities and increase col ..read more

Thanks to the wonderful group of local and Victoria-wide carers who made it to the FCAV Carer Celebration and AGM on Friday 15th September, 2023 for a glorious day together in Wadawurrung country - Ballarat.   As  part of #FosterCareWeek2023, the event was opened with a warm Welcome to country by Koby Phillips from Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation. Koby delivered recognition of carers' #HeartsofGold from a first-hand perspective as his parents were foster carers. He thanked carers in the room on behalf of himself as the child of foster carers, and his foster-brot ..read more

Congratulations to all the nominees in the 2023 Commitment to Supporting Carer Awards. We received over 40 excellent nominations from carers who had experienced exceptional support to placements from their support team workers.    We recognise that the support offered to carers is golden in a complex system especially in these challenging times. These awards provide foster carers the opportunity to acknowledge the people who have offered committed support and to show how much that support means to them in caring for children and young people.    Congratulations to all agen ..read more