Emergency Kinship Care in South Australia: What to Do When a Child Arrives

The First 24 Hours

A child arrives at your home — sometimes late at night, sometimes with a police officer, sometimes dropped off by a frantic relative with a bag of clothes and nothing else. You are now responsible for a child you did not plan for, and the system does not know about it yet.

Here is what to do first.

If the child is in immediate danger or you suspect abuse or neglect, call 000 for emergencies or the Child Abuse Report Line (CARL) on 13 14 78. CARL operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Reporting a concern does not automatically mean the child will be removed from your care — it starts a child protection assessment.

If the situation is a family crisis but not an emergency (parental incapacity, addiction, mental health episode, incarceration), your immediate priority is the child's basic needs: food, a bed, clean clothing. Everything administrative can wait until the morning.

The First Week: Three Critical Calls

Once the initial emergency has passed, make these three calls:

1. Grandparent, Foster and Kinship Carer Adviser Line: 1800 245 965 This is the dedicated Centrelink line for non-parent carers. They bypass the standard phone queue and can start your Family Tax Benefit and other claims immediately. The sooner you lodge, the sooner the payments begin — most Centrelink payments are not backdated to when the child arrived, but to when you formally claim.

2. Grandcarers SA: 08 8212 1937 If the child arrived with nothing, Grandcarers SA can help with emergency clothing, bedding, school essentials and connection to their Village peer support groups. They cannot provide ongoing income, but they fill the gap in the first weeks when payments have not started yet.

3. Legal Services Commission Helpline: 1300 366 424 A free initial phone consultation about your legal position. If there is any possibility of a custody dispute with the parent, or if DCP is involved, get legal advice early.

What You Can Do Without a Court Order

You can take these steps without a court order, although the school and Services Australia assess each request:

• Feed, clothe and house the child
• Ask a school to consider an informal-care enrolment; a statutory declaration and care evidence can support the request, and the principal decides case by case
• Take them to a GP for care; for a child under 16, ask who can consent under section 12 of the Consent to Medical Treatment and Palliative Care Act 1995. A statutory declaration alone does not give you medical-consent authority
• Apply to copy or transfer them onto your Medicare card using Form MS011. Services Australia may require parent or guardian authorisation or supporting evidence, and assesses each application
• Claim Family Tax Benefit and other Centrelink payments

You do not need DCP involvement to access any of these. The child protection system and the Centrelink family payment system are separate.

Building Your Evidence From Day One

Start documenting immediately, even if it feels premature:

• Write down the date and circumstances of the child's arrival
• Keep any text messages, voicemails or emails from the parent about the arrangement
• Get the child registered at a GP and dentist in your area
• Take a note of any belongings the child arrived with (or did not)
• Begin a folder — physical or digital — for every form, letter and receipt from this point forward

This evidence becomes your proof of care for Centrelink, the school and any future legal proceedings. The earlier you start, the stronger your position.

When DCP Gets Involved

If DCP places the child with you formally — through the Youth Court under the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 — you become a statutory kinship carer with access to DCP Carer Support Payments, a caseworker, and respite services. This is a different track from informal care, with different paperwork and different support.

If DCP is not involved, you are an informal carer. Your support runs through Centrelink and state concessions, not DCP.

Getting Through the First Month

The SA kinship carer guide is built for exactly this moment. It walks you through the first-week priorities, the evidence you need to start collecting, and the claim sequence for every payment and concession available to SA kinship carers — so you can focus on the child instead of trying to decode the system on your own.

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