Easy English fact sheets for parents dealing with the child protection system. Advice from parents with experience.

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Rights

Rights / Your childs rights
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Your childs rights

This fact sheet talks about the ways a child can be hurt.
It is to help parents keep a child safe.
This information may make some parents upset.
Look after yourself. Talk to
  • a counsellor
or
  • a friend.
Your child has rights.
  • at home
  • in foster care
Read more about foster care
in our fact sheet
What is foster care?
There are laws about the care of your child.
Laws are like rules.
We will use the word
rules to talk about this law.
The rules are called the Care Act.
Everyone must follow the rules. Like
  • parents
  • carers
  • Community Services
  • Court.
The rules are to keep children safe.
The rules say every choice is for the
best interests of the child.
This is the most important thing. Like
Your child needs to live with their Nana.
Nana will have food in the house for meals.
It may not be what the parent wants.
It may not be what the caseworker wants.
Children have the same rights
  • at home
    and
  • foster care.
Parents and carers must keep a child safe from harm.
They must also keep a child
  • safe from other adults
  • safe from other children
A child has the right to feel safe.
Parents and carers
  • must not hit them
  • must not make a child feel scared
and
  • must not yell at them.
  • must not say things to make a child feel bad about themselves.
and
There must be no violence in the home
  • to your child
  • to any person in the home.
Read more about violence in our fact sheet
New words.
Children have the right to be safe from sex.
Parents and carers must not
  • show a child pictures of people having sex
  • have sex with them.
Children have the right to be looked after. Like
A child gets
  • breakfast
  • lunch
  • dinner
    and
  • snacks.
Parents and carers must check
  • each child has the right food to eat
  • the home is clean.
Check that each child has
  • clean clothes
  • clothes for hot weather
  • clothes for cold weather
A child is sick.
A parent or carer takes their child to the doctor.
A child feels loved.
A parent or carer
  • spends time with each child
  • speaks to their child.
They make the child feel good about themselves.
A child must go to school.

Children in foster care

A child in foster care has other rights too.
Community Services and foster carers need to check that
A child has the right to
  • do things that make them happy
  • to know their family
  • to ask why they are in care.
They also have the right
  • to feel safe
  • feel cared for
  • to ask for help.

Children are in foster care.
Mum or dad may worry

A parent can talk to a lawyer.
A lawyer can help you work out what to do.
Read our fact sheet
You worry about your child.
Your child is in foster care

In Court

Children have their own lawyer.
The lawyer will
  • hear what the children say
and
  • hear from the parents lawyer
  • hear from the Community Services lawyer.
A child under 12 years.
The lawyer will say what is best for the children.
A child over 12 years.
The children tell the lawyer what they want.
The lawyer will help them work out what is best.
These children can choose.
Do they want to go court?

More information

From www.dcj.nsw.gov.au
  • Your rights as a child or young person in care
  • Your rights in out of home care
  • Charter of rights. 7 to 12 years.
    You can also get this in Plain Language.
There are also videos at www.dcj.nsw.gov.au
The videos are
This fact sheet is general information.
It may not be the same for you.
Talk to a lawyer about
  • your own child
  • your family.
This fact sheet was made by
  • The WASH House
  • The Ability Rights Centre. A service of IDRS
with
  • a Parent Advisory Group, 2020.
Images
We have used images from
  • ChangePeople
  • COMPIC
  • Mayer-Johnson
  • Participics
  • Picto-Selector
  • TheNounProject.
Access Easy English helped The WASH House write the Easy English.
April 2020.

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