Get a child protection decision reviewed

You can only ask for a review if you are the person affected by the decision. For example, a child, young person, birth parent or carer.

When CYPS makes decisions

It must follow the law. This includes:

• making decisions with the child’s care team, the child, the parents, carers and involved support services
• deciding as soon as possible
• helping families understand the decision.

The Charter for Parents and Families explains what you can expect when you and CYPS talk and make decisions.

The Charter of Rights for Kids in Care explains what children and young people can expect from the people who are looking after them when they are in care.

Before you can get a decision review

You must contact your case manager. Your case manager will:

1. give you a document to explain why we made the decision (called a Decision Making Statement)
2. organise a meeting with the person in CYPS who made the decision.

Read why we made the decision

You’ll get a Decision Making Statement explaining why we made the decision. You'll get this within 7 days of asking about the decision. It will explain:

• the decision
• who made the decision
• what information was considered
• how the decision is in your child’s best interests.

Meet with the person who made the decision

You’ll have a meeting with CYPS and your case manager within 7 days of getting the Decision Making Statement.

At the meeting, you’ll have time to:

• hear the reasons for the decision
• give us any new information you have.

You can bring a support person with you. This should be someone you trust. They could be:

• a friend or family member
• a lawyer
• a social worker.

If you don’t have someone, we can help you find a support person. Or you can ask your case manager to suggest someone.

You can decide where and when you want to meet. You do not need to have a face-to-face meeting. You can ask CYPS to give you information in writing.

If you or your child is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

You can ask an advocate, support person or organisation to talk to CYPS about the decision. They can do this in a meeting, phone call or in writing.

If you still disagree with the decision

You may be able to get the decision reviewed by a senior officer in CYPS who did not make the decision. This is called an internal review.

Decisions you can get reviewed

If you’re affected by a decision, you can get it reviewed if it is about:

• contact with family, including changes to how often and if it is supervised contact
• placement, that is where a child lives and with who
• restoration (returning a child safety to their parents), including deciding to delay, speed up or stop trying
• support you can get from CYPS, including financial support for kinship carers
• health and medical treatment for a child or young person
• culture, religion or education for a child or young person
• kinship carer assessment to decide if a person is suitable to care for a child
• cultural plan for an Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander child or young person
• therapeutic assessment or plan for a child or young person
• safety planning for a child or young person.

Decisions you cannot get reviewed

You cannot get a decision reviewed if it is about:

• appraisal for child abuse or neglect, including decisions to prove or not prove abuse or neglect
• care orders made in the ACT Childrens Court
• day-to-day decisions that foster carers make, including attending school excursions and routine doctors visits.

If we cannot review a decision, we will explain why and tell you about other options you may have.

Ask for a decision review

To get a decision reviewed, you must show how it meets one of the following:

• CYPS did not have all the relevant information that was available at the time.
• CYPS misunderstood the information.
• There is new information that was not available when CYPS made the decision.
• The decision CYPS made was based on an error of law, fact or policy.

To ask for a decision review:

1. Download and fill in the Internal review of decision form [PDF 183kB].
2. Email the form to CSDCYFComplaints@act.gov.au.

The senior officer reviewing the decision will:

• check all the information we have about the decision
• check any new information
• meet with you and your support person
• meet with the person who made the decision
• learn what the child or young person thinks about the decision.

This review will take about 30 days.

While a review is happening

We will decide whether to go ahead with the decision.

To do this, we will consider the best interests of the child. This includes how delaying or changing the decision will affect the child.

After the review

If you’re still unhappy after the internal review, you can:

• meet with CYPS to discuss the outcome and next steps
• ask for another review.

We cannot review all decisions again. Your case manager or CYPS will tell you if we can review it again.

A panel of people who were not involved in the case before will review the decision.

If you or your child are Aboriginal or Torres Islander, you can ask for someone on the panel to be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

Get help with a decision review

You can contact Complaints and Client Services for advice or help with a decision review.

If you need an interpreter

The ACT Government will pay for this. Ask the Complaints and Client Services team to arrange an interpreter.

If you need an interpreter to contact us, use the Translating and Interpreter Service.

If you need help to speak or listen