Text Size

Care Proceedings involving the Department of Community Services (DOCS)

Attention: open in a new window. PrintE-mail

A Care Application is an application to the Children's Court for a Care Order. It is the main way that the Department of Human Services (DoCS) can obtain an order from the Children's Court to protect the safety, welfare and well-being of a child or young person. DoCS might make a Care Application if it believes:

  • That something is wrong in the child’s family that has caused, is causing or might in the future cause some harm to the child, and
  • That certain actions are required to prevent the harm and/or to fix it, and
  • That the only way to get these actions to take place is to get a Care Order.
 
Parents, children and young people, and other people who have a significant interest in the welfare of a child or young person cannot make a Care Application unless the Children’s Court has previously made a Care Order about the child or young person. If the Children’s Court has already made a Care Order, then a parent, child or young person or another person with a significant interest in the welfare of a child can file an Application for Variation or Rescission of a Care Order. If you believe that a Care Order is needed but the Children’s Court has not made a Care Order before you must call DoCS and make a report about the child or young person.
 
The Application filed by DoCS must set out the Care Orders they want the Court to make and the reasons why they believe that the child or young person is in need of care and protection. DoCS must also provide evidence to support why they think the child or young person is in need of care and protection. If you believe that the evidence given by DoCS is incorrect or that the evidence does not prove that the child or young person is in need of care and protection then you can ask the Court to hold a hearing. At the hearing, a Children’s Court Magistrate will consider all of the evidence provided by all of the parties. At the end of the hearing the Magistrate will decide whether DoCS has proven that the child or young person is in need of care and protection.
 
If the Magistrate decides that the child is in need of care and protection the Magistrate will then move into the “disposition” or “placement” part of the hearing. At this part of the case, the Magistrate makes a decision about what kinds of Care Orders are needed to protect the safety, welfare and well-being of a child or young person. DoCS will usually write a Care Plan, which summarises the child’s needs, the reasons why DoCS made the Care Application and the exact Care Orders that DoCS wants the Court to make. All other parties will have a chance to tell the Court what final Care Orders they want and to give the Court evidence supporting their recommendations.
 
If everyone agrees on what final Care Orders should be made then final Care Orders can be made by consent. This will be the end of the case. If one or more parties does not agree on what final Care Orders should be made, there will be a hearing. At this hearing the Magistrate will consider all of the evidence provided to the Court by all of the parties. The Magistrate will make a decision about what final Care Orders should be made and the case will then be concluded.
 
The kinds of Care Orders that the Court can make include:
 
  • An order that the parents of the child or young person, or the child or young person him or herself, give undertakings (promises) to the Court;
  • An order that DoCS supervise the care of the child or young person, even though s/he might keep living with his or her parents;
  • An order that the child or young person live with one parent instead of the other and/or that only one of the parents should have responsibility for making decisions about the child or young person;
  • An order that the child or young person live with someone other than his or her parents (such as with another family member or a family friend) and/or that someone other than the parents should have responsibility for making decisions about the child or young person;
  • An order that the child or young person should live in a place arranged by DoCS (such as foster care or a group home) and that the Minister for Community Services should have responsibility for making decisions about the child or young person (this used to be called making a child or young person a “ward”); and/or
  • That specify what kind of contact (previously called “access”) a child or young person should have with his or her parents, brothers and sisters, other family members and other people who are important to the child.
 
A Care Application is a very serious court case. It could result in one or more Care Orders being made, including changing your or another person’s parental responsibility for a child. Whether DoCS has enough evidence to prove that a child or young person is in need of care or protection, whether you should consent to a finding during the establishment phase of the case and/or whether you should consent to the final Care Orders recommended by DoCS are very serious questions. Only you can decide whether you should do this. To help you decide, you should get advice from a lawyer before you make any decisions. Call one of our
 
Family Lawyers for free initial telephone advice on your circumstances on 95258688.

Key People

sutherland shire lawyer greg dicksonGreg Dickson 

primary area of practice is litigation. In 1993, he became one of the first solicitors in New South Wales to achieve Accreditation as a Specialist in Family Law and Property Relationships Act Law. Greg is the head of our Family Law Division but also practices extensively in commercial and general litigation ...read more

sutherland shire lawyer kevin dwyerKevin Dwyer 

can advise you upon and conduct all Family Law and De Facto Relationship matters in the Family Courts at Sydney, Wollongong and Parramatta. Kevin can also assist you in Criminal Law and appear in Local Courts all over New South Wales in AVO and criminal proceedings as well as ...read more

Amanda DoringAmanda Doring 

is a Family Law Accredited Specialist with extensive experience drafting binding financial agreements and conducting urgent applications in the Family Court and Federal Magistrate’s Court as well as De Facto proceedings in the Supreme, District and Local Courts ...read more

Lisa O'Leary 

operates predominantly in the area of Family Law and De Facto Relationship dispute resolution in the Family Court, the Federal Magistrates Court, the Local and Supreme Court or by alternative dispute resolution procedures ...read more 

Nicola Morgan 

Nicola joined Warren McKeon Dickson in January 2009 as the recipient of the Warren McKeon Dickson Work Integrated Learning Scholarship offered in conjunction with the University of Wollongong.  ...read more 

 

 

Site Login