Care and protection orders

If Child and Youth Protection Services decides your child needs protection, we may apply to the ACT Childrens Court for a Care and Protection Order.

We will give the court a Care Plan that says what needs to happen to secure your child’s safety and wellbeing.

The court will make a care and protection order if it is satisfied:

• your child needs care and protection
• making the order is in the best interests of your child.

This means the Court does not just accept what we believe.

Conditions of care and protection orders

Conditions (called provisions) in care and protection orders are rules and could include:

• a contact provision that says who can have contact with your child and when
• a supervision provision giving us the right to supervise your child’s care arrangements and visit your family
• a drug use provision making a parent attend regular drug testing
• a residence provision saying where and with who your child lives
• a short-term parental responsibility provision saying who can make decisions for your child for up to 2 years
• a long-term parental responsibility provision saying who can make decisions for your child until they turn 18.

If you are not sure what these provisions mean, get legal advice or talk to the case manager.

Types of care and protection orders

The ACT Childrens Court will make a Care and Protection Order either interim or final.

All Care and Protection Orders are last a certain time. They usually last for one or two years, or until your child turns 18.

Interim Care and Protection Order

An interim order is temporary. Usually, this kind of order happens when we first make short-term arrangements for your child.

During the time of the interim order we will:

• check how your child is doing
• check what changes (if any) you can make in that time.

This could include:

• moving to better housing
• a violent partner leaving your home
• going to a detoxification or rehabilitation program
• building a successful working relationship with us.

If you work with us during this time it is more likely your child can come back to you.

You will be given a date to go back to court. During this time, speak to your lawyer and your case manager about what you need to do next.

Final Care and Protection Orders

The ACT Childrens Court will make a final order if it decides your child needs care and protection. The court will only do this if it has enough information.

A final order is usually for one or two years, or until your child turns 18. If this happens your child will not live with you.

This is the end of the court process.

Make sure you get a copy of:

• your child’s Care and Protection Order
• your child’s Care Plan
• any other important documents.

These documents are confidential. Do not share them with anyone who is not directly involved in the court process.

Annual Review Reports

We review all Care and Protection Orders every 12 months. We give an Annual Review Report to the Public Advocate.

We will also give a copy of the report to:

• your child
• anyone who has parental responsibility
• your child’s carer.

The report shows your child’s progress. If we believe your child no longer needs care and protection, we can apply to the ACT Childrens Court to remove the order.

You or anyone involved in the care and protection order can ask the ACT Childrens Court to:

• change the order (called an amendment)
• cancel the order (called revoking).

Changing a care and protection order

The ACT Childrens Court can review most decisions we make.

You can apply to the ACT Childrens Court to change (amend) or cancel (revoke) a care and protection order. For example, you may want to change the contact arrangements for your child.

You may also think there is no longer a risk to your child. For example, you may have successfully done a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program.

Talk to your case manager if you think your situation has changed and your child would be safe with you.

Applying to change a care and protection order

The person making the application must believe the change is in the best interests of your child.

Sometimes you can apply to change (amend) or cancel (revoke) the order more than once a year. This will only happen if the ACT Childrens Court believes there has been significant change in circumstances.

The easiest way to have a care and protection order changed or cancelled is to work with us. We want to reunite families, and we will work with you to achieve this.

We may not support changing the order. If you believe your situation has improved, you can get legal advice.

Read next

Contact us