Kinship Care After Parental Death, Addiction or Family Violence in Victoria

When a Child Arrives Because of a Crisis

Most kinship care arrangements in Victoria begin with a phone call you didn't expect. A parent dies. A parent's addiction reaches a point where the child cannot safely stay. Family violence makes the home dangerous. In each case, a grandparent, aunt, uncle or older sibling steps in — often within hours — and suddenly has a child to feed, clothe and get to school.

The practical demands are immediate. The emotional weight is enormous. And the administrative system expects you to navigate two levels of government while you're managing grief, anger, fear or all three.

This post covers the first steps for each of these situations, focusing on the payments and paperwork rather than the legal or counselling dimensions.

After a Parent Dies

When a parent dies and you take on their child, the care arrangement is typically informal unless DFFH child protection was already involved. That means:

Centrelink is your first call. Ring the Grandparent, Foster and Kinship Carer Adviser line on 1800 245 965 and tell them a parent has died and you have taken care of the child. They can fast-track:

• Family Tax Benefit Part A and B — you need to prove you have primary care of the child, which at this stage can be as simple as the child living at your address, school records showing your contact details, or a letter from a GP
• Double Orphan Pension — if both parents are deceased, or one parent is deceased and the other is untraceable, incarcerated or in long-term care. This payment has no income test and no assets test. It is paid alongside FTB
• Foster Child Health Care Card — may provide an eligible child with lower-cost PBS medicines and local concessions. It is not means-tested and does not guarantee bulk-billed GP visits

Ask about crisis support. Services Australia social workers (call 132 850) provide support planning and can advise about emergency assistance if you are in immediate hardship.

School enrolment. Victorian schools can use an Informal Carer Statutory Declaration for enrolment — you do not need a court order or the deceased parent's signature. The school can provide the form. A death certificate for the parent is supporting evidence.

Life insurance and superannuation. These are outside the scope of kinship care payments, but worth noting: the child may be a beneficiary of the deceased parent's super fund or life insurance. Contact the super fund directly or use the ATO's lost super search.

When Addiction Is the Cause

Parental drug or alcohol addiction is one of the most common pathways into kinship care in Victoria. The child may have come to you gradually (staying over more and more often) or suddenly (after an overdose, arrest or hospital admission).

If DFFH child protection is involved, you may be offered a formal statutory placement. If DFFH endorses the placement, you can ask about DFFH care allowances (Level 1 starts at $473.66 per fortnight for children aged 0–7) and First Supports. A court order alone does not trigger the allowance; confirm your endorsement and registration with your case manager.

If DFFH is not involved, your arrangement is informal and you rely on Commonwealth payments. The process is the same as any informal kinship carer:

1. Call 1800 245 965 to start your Centrelink claims
2. Gather evidence of primary care (school records, Medicare card showing the child, GP letters, statutory declaration)
3. Claim FTB Part A and B, Foster Child Health Care Card, and explore Parenting Payment or ACCS Grandparent if you are on an income support payment

The complication with addiction is that the birth parent may cycle in and out. Centrelink needs to know who has primary care of the child, and if the parent reclaims the child periodically, your care percentage may fluctuate. Be upfront about the care arrangement — Centrelink assesses on actual physical care, not legal custody. The 65% care threshold applies to ACCS (Grandparent); FTB Part A has a different care threshold.

Don't wait for things to stabilise. Carers in this situation often delay claiming because they think the parent will get better and take the child back. Claim promptly and report changes in the arrangement. FTB backdating is generally limited to the start of the current financial year; backdating to the prior financial year is limited to special circumstances. CCS and ACCS can generally be backdated only up to 28 days before the claim.

After Family Violence

When a child comes to you because of domestic violence in the family home, the immediate priority is safety — followed quickly by the same financial and administrative steps.

If Victoria Police or DFFH child protection becomes involved, the child may be placed with you under a child protection order. If DFFH endorses the placement, ask your case manager about the care allowance and First Supports. If an Intervention Order is in place, ask police, a lawyer or a family violence service to check that its conditions address safety for you and the child.

If the arrangement is informal (the other parent or the child came to you voluntarily, without police or DFFH involvement), claim through Centrelink as described above.

Additional support specific to family violence situations:

• Safe Steps (1800 015 188, 24/7) — Victoria's family violence response centre, providing crisis accommodation referrals, safety planning and support
• Services Australia crisis support — ask a social worker whether emergency assistance is available for your circumstances; call 132 850
• If the child has witnessed violence, school wellbeing coordinators can arrange counselling and adjust academic expectations. You don't need a court order to request this — the Informal Carer Statutory Declaration is sufficient

The Common Thread

Regardless of the trigger — death, addiction, violence or something else — the practical pathway is similar:

1. Secure the child's immediate safety and basic needs
2. Call Centrelink on 1800 245 965 to start claims for FTB, Foster Child Health Care Card and any crisis payments
3. Gather evidence of primary care — even informal evidence like school records and GP letters is enough to get started
4. Enrol the child in school using an Informal Carer Statutory Declaration
5. Contact Kinship Carers Victoria (0499 969 234) or Grandparents Victoria for peer support and advocacy

The Victoria Kinship Carer Support Guide gives you the structured checklists, phone scripts and tracking worksheets to work through each of these steps without having to piece it together from a dozen different websites.

See more Victoria guides →