New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS (CARE AND PROTECTION) ACT 1998 - SECT 137

137 Authorised carers

(1) In this Act,
"authorised carer" means--

(a) the principal officer of a designated agency, or

(b) a person who, in accordance with the regulations, is authorised as an authorised carer by a designated agency, or

(c) a person who, in accordance with the regulations, is otherwise authorised as an authorised carer, or

(d) subject to the regulations, a person who is assessed to be suitable to be approved to adopt a child under section 45 of the Adoption Act 2000 .

(1A) If, in relation to a child or young person who is the subject of a care order, the Children's Court has accepted that there is no realistic possibility of the child or young person being restored to his or her parents, a parent of the child or young person cannot--

(a) be given care responsibility for the child or young person, or

(b) be authorised by a designated agency as an authorised carer in respect of the child or young person,

unless the decision of the Court that there is no possibility of restoration is rescinded under section 90.

(2) The regulations may provide for the following--

(a) the authorisation of persons as authorised carers, including on a provisional basis,

(b) the making and determination of an application for authorisations,

(c) the imposition or variation of conditions on an authorisation, including, but not limited to the following--

(i) the maximum number of children and young persons who may be placed in the care of an authorised carer, including the maximum number in specified age groups,

(ii) the identification or description of children and young persons who may be placed in the care of an authorised carer,

(d) the period for which an authorisation remains in force,

(e) the cancellation or suspension of an authorisation, including events, the occurrence of which--

(i) result in automatic cancellation of an authorisation, or

(ii) raise a presumption an authorisation will be cancelled,

(f) the notification, by a designated agency, to the Children's Guardian of the placement of a child or young person in the out-of-home care of an authorised carer,

(g) the approval or prohibition of behaviour management practices that may be used by an authorised carer in managing the behaviour of a child or young person in out-of-home care.

(3) In the case of an authorised carer who is authorised by a designated agency, it is a condition of the authorisation that the carer must, as soon as reasonably practicable, notify the designated agency--

(a) if any person (other than the carer) resides on the same property as the carer for 3 weeks or more, or

(b) if a person residing on the same property as the carer attains the age of 18 years.

Note : See section 10 of the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 which requires that an adult person who resides on the same property as an authorised carer for more than 3 weeks must hold a working with children check clearance.

(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to a person who is an authorised carer solely because the person is an authorised residential care worker.