Kinship Care Tasmania: What Informal Carers Need to Know

How Kinship Care Works in Tasmania

When a child can't live with their parents in Tasmania, the Department for Education, Children and Young People (DECYP) looks first to relatives. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings — anyone with an existing bond. That preference is written into the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1997, which says a child's family is the best environment for care whenever it's safe.

But the system divides carers into two tracks, and the financial consequences are stark.

Formal kinship care means DECYP has intervened — a child safety notification, an assessment, and a statutory placement with the relative. Formal carers receive fortnightly care allowances directly from the state. The 2026–27 Tasmanian Budget committed $100.1 million over four years to out-of-home care, including a permanent 15% uplift to base foster and kinship care allowances.

Informal kinship care means the family arranged things privately. No child protection involvement, no court orders. The child moved in because mum went to hospital, or dad went to prison, or the situation at home became dangerous. These carers are locked out of state care allowances entirely — DECYP funds only statutory placements.

That doesn't mean informal carers get nothing. It means the money comes from a different source.

What Informal Carers Can Access

Informal kinship carers in Tasmania rely on Commonwealth payments through Centrelink, plus targeted state concessions:

• Family Tax Benefit Part A and B — non-parent carers with at least 35% physical care may qualify if they meet Centrelink's other eligibility rules, regardless of court orders
• Additional Child Care Subsidy (Grandparent) — covers up to 100% of childcare fees for eligible grandparents or great-grandparents receiving income support, with at least 65% of ongoing daily care and substantial autonomy over day-to-day decisions about the child's care, welfare, and development; no activity test
• Foster Child Health Care Card — issued in the child's name regardless of the carer's income
• Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) — waives government school levies for carers with a Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card
• Ticket to Play — two $100 sport vouchers per eligible child per year

The key step is contacting the Grandparent, Foster and Kinship Carer Adviser Line on 1800 245 965 to establish principal carer status with Centrelink.

The Community Kinship Care Program

Tasmania funds a dedicated support program for informal carers, operated regionally by two organisations:

• Baptcare covers the North and South-West
• Mission Australia covers the North-West and South-East

The Community Kinship Care Program offers family support, brief interventions, peer groups, respite referrals, and flexible brokerage funding. Access it directly or through the Strong Families, Safe Kids Advice and Referral Line on 1800 000 123.

This program exists specifically because informal carers fall outside the formal child protection system. It bridges the gap between state support designed for statutory placements and the reality that most kinship carers in Tasmania arranged care privately.

Regional Differences Across Tasmania

Service delivery varies by location. Hobart has concentrated community legal clinics and specialised support. Launceston, Devonport, and Burnie have regional DECYP offices and community hubs. Carers on King Island or Flinders Island face geographic isolation that limits in-person services — the Student Accommodation Allowance and travel schemes provide specific provisions for island-based secondary students who must move to mainland Tasmania for Years 11 and 12.

For Palawa families, culturally safe support comes through the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre and the South East Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation (SETAC), which assist families outside formal statutory child protection mandates.

What the Guide Covers

The Support for Grandparents and Kinship Carers in Tasmania guide walks through every payment, form, and agency an informal carer needs to deal with — from the first-week Centrelink call through school enrolment, medical consent, and the state concession applications. It maps which regional provider covers your area and includes worksheets to assemble the evidence Centrelink requires when parents aren't cooperating.

If you're raising a relative's child in Tasmania without a court order, the paperwork is the hard part. The guide turns it into a checklist.

See more Tasmania guides →