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Foster care

• About foster and kinship care
  • What is foster care?
  • What is kinship care?
  • Who needs care?
  • Provisionally approved carers
  • Specialist foster care
  • Non family-based care
• Becoming a carer
  • Expression of interest
    • Register your interest
  • Questions to consider
  • Rewards and challenges
  • Steps to becoming a carer
• Blue cards for carers
  • Blue cards for existing carers and their adult household members
• Carer training
  • Foster carer training
    • Foreword
    • Procedures and guidelines
    • Frequently asked questions
    • Orientation
    • Learning outcomes
    • Pre-service training
    • Learning journal
    • Standard training
    • Advanced training
    • Recognition of prior learning
    • Acknowledgments
    • Forms and templates
  • Kinship carer training
• Children and young people
  • Transitioning from care
  • Info kit for children and young people in care
    • Family group meeting (FGM)
    • Case plan
    • Education support plan (ESP)
    • Child health passport (CHP)
    • Transition from care (TFC)
    • Matters of concern (MOC)
    • Complaints
  • Children and young people's participation strategy
• Support for carers
  • Carer handbook
  • Federal Government allowances and benefits
  • Foster and kinship care support line
  • Foster and Kinship Carer Card
    • Business Discount Directory
      • Tips on using the card
      • Nominate a business
    • Information for businesses
      • Business proposal application form
      • Terms and conditions
    • Frequently asked questions
  • Financial support
  • Support care
  • Support groups
• Rights and responsibilities
  • Standards of care
  • Statement of commitment
  • Charter of rights for a child in care
  • United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Case planning for a child in care
  • Child health passport
  • Children and young people with disabilities
  • Education support plans
  • Family contact and reunification
  • Long-term guardianship
  • Placement Agreements
  • Transition from care
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
  • Child placement principle
  • Recognised Entities
• Regulation of care
  • Screening and assessment
  • Matters of concern
  • Community Visitors
• Contacts
  • Community foster care agencies
  • Indigenous foster care agencies
  • Peak bodies and advocacy groups
  • Foster and Kinship Carer Card contacts
• Library

Complaints

What is a complaint?

A complaint is when there is something you are concerned about or something that you are unhappy about, and you let someone know about it.

Examples of things that you may have concerns or be unhappy about are:

• your health
• where you live or your carer
• your safety
• friends or family
• school
• decisions that have been made about you
• the department.

What can I do if I have a complaint?

There are lots of people that you can talk to about things that are bothering you. Maybe some things are big and hard to talk about and some things may seem to be small but they just make you angry.

Who can I talk to if I have a complaint?

1. Talk to your child safety officer (CSO) and they will try to help you.
2. If you still have concerns, talk to your community visitor. They will try to work out a solution with your CSO and carer, or they may decide to discuss your concerns with the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian (the commission). The commission then contacts the department and asks them about what is being done to help you. You can call the commission for free on 1800 688 275.
3. If this doesn't fix or change things, you can talk to the team leader or manager of your child safety service centre.
4. If you still have concerns, ask to speak to the client relations officer at your zonal office. You can ask your CSO or community visitor for the contact phone number for your zonal office.
5. Finally, if you still think things are not how you would like them to be, contact the Central Complaints and Review Unit for free on 1800 080 464.
6. If you still have concerns after talking to all these people, you can talk to the Children Services Tribunal. The tribunal can help you if the department has made a decision that you do not agree with, about things like:
   • who you should live with
   • whether your parents should know where you are living
   • the amount of contact you can have with your family.

If you want the tribunal to review any of these decisions, you have 28 days to contact the tribunal from the time the department sends you a letter about the decision.

You can phone the tribunal on 3225 8346 or 1300 855 345 (if you live outside Brisbane).

If there is something urgent that you need help with outside the department's working hours, contact the Child Safety After Hours Service Centre on 3235 9999, or for free on 1800 177 135.

Where can I get more info about making a complaint?

• Department of Child Safety
  • Phone: 1800 080 464
  • Email: Department of Child Safety Central Complaints and Review Unit - complaints@childsafety.qld.gov.au
• Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian
• Children Services Tribunal
• Legal Aid
  • Phone: 1300 65 11 88.

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Last updated

15 January 2009