Kinship Carer Payments NSW

What NSW Pays Kinship Carers in 2026

If you are a grandparent, aunt, uncle or other relative raising a child in New South Wales, the payments available to you depend almost entirely on how the child came into your care. A child placed by the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) through the Children's Court unlocks state-funded allowances that informal carers cannot access. Informal carers — those raising a child through a private family arrangement with no court order — rely on federal Centrelink payments instead.

That split matters because it determines whether you receive a fortnightly DCJ care allowance, a Centrelink Family Tax Benefit, or both.

DCJ Care Allowance Rates (Effective 1 July 2026)

Following the January 2026 uplift of 20 percent across all base rates, DCJ indexed allowances again on 1 July 2026. The current fortnightly rates are:

The jump from $1,081 at age 14–15 down to $720 at age 16–17 looks like a mistake but is not. At 16, young people become eligible for Commonwealth student payments and the DCJ Teenage Education Payment (up to $6,000 per year), so the base allowance drops to account for those additional streams.

Care +1 and Care +2 loadings apply when a child has documented complex medical, behavioural or trauma-related needs. Your caseworker or accredited agency initiates the assessment.

Which Allowance Type Applies to Your Situation

DCJ runs four distinct allowance streams, each tied to a specific legal pathway:

Statutory Care Allowance — for authorised carers whose child is subject to a Children's Court order allocating parental responsibility to the Minister. Paid at the rates above.

Supported Care Allowance — for carers where parental responsibility is allocated to the carer via a Children's Court order, or where DCJ formally intervened in Family Court proceedings. Same rate table.

Guardianship Allowance — for carers who have transitioned to long-term guardianship under Section 79 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW). Benchmarked to the statutory care allowance rate.

Adoption Allowance — subject to separate DCJ assessment when a carer formally adopts a child from out-of-home care.

All four are tax-exempt, entirely exempt from means testing, and do not reduce your Centrelink pension or income support payments.

What Informal Carers Get Instead

If you are raising a relative's child through a private family arrangement — no DCJ involvement, no Children's Court order — you cannot access any of the DCJ allowances above. Your pathway runs through Services Australia (Centrelink):

• Family Tax Benefit Parts A and B — requires at least 35% actual care of the child
• Additional Child Care Subsidy (Grandparent) — up to 100% of approved childcare fees if you receive income support
• Double Orphan Pension — if both parents have died, or one has died and the other is in prison for at least 10 years, in psychiatric or nursing care indefinitely, or has unknown whereabouts; certain refugee children also qualify
• Carer Allowance — if you provide daily care for a child with a recognised disability
• Carer Payment — if you provide constant, full-time care that prevents substantial employment and meet its income and assets tests
• Foster Child Health Care Card — non-means-tested, covers PBS concession medicines

The dedicated Grandparent, Foster and Kinship Carer Adviser line is 1800 245 965 (Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm). Call before lodging a MyGov claim — the advisers can flag your file as a non-parent carer from the start, which prevents the common problem of claims being rejected because Centrelink still has the biological parent listed as the primary carer.

On-Top Payments: Establishment and Emergency

Formal and supported carers can also access one-off grants through DCJ:

• Crisis placement — up to $200
• Short-term placement — up to $350
• Long-term placement — up to $1,400

These establishment payments cover the immediate costs of bedding, clothing, car seats and safety equipment when a child first arrives. Emergency funds are disbursed via Osko bank transfer, store e-vouchers or a Community Service Centre P-Card. Prior written caseworker approval is required for contingency funding beyond these amounts.

Keeping Payments Running: The Continuation Form

If you receive the Supported Care Allowance, DCJ will periodically send you a self-assessment form titled Carer Self-assessment and Application for Continuation of Supported Care Allowance. It confirms the child still lives with you and that nothing material has changed. If you do not return the form by DCJ's due date, the fortnightly allowance can be suspended automatically. Mark the deadline in your calendar the day the form arrives.

Disputing a Decision

If DCJ downgrades your loading tier, refuses a contingency request, or denies your allowance entirely, you have 28 days from notification to request a formal internal review. If the decision stands, you can escalate to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). For Centrelink payment disputes, the first step is an Explanation or Formal Review Officer, then the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART).

The NSW Kinship Carer Support guide walks through each payment stream with printable worksheets for tracking your claims, preparing your evidence folder and logging every agency interaction — so you have a paper trail if a review becomes necessary.

See more New South Wales guides →