Our services

A resource for toddlers and their parents and carers to use together to learn more about the importance of physical activity and basic active movement skills.

Children requiring adoptive placements under the General Children's Adoption Program are up to two years of age. The majority of children requiring placement have been between five and nine months of age at the time of their adoption. If a child has specific and significant needs — for example, relating to their cultural background, or relating to a significant medical condition or disability - the child's placement needs may be best met under the Special Needs Children's Adoption Program.

Information on our Adventure Package currently offered at Tallebudgera Active Recreation Centre on the Gold Coast, Currimundi Active Recreation Centre on the Sunshine Coast and Lake Tinaroo Active Recreation Centre on the Atherton Tablelands.

Regional workshops address key issues in the sport and recreation industry. These forums are free and aim to increase the skills and knowledge of coaches, officials, administrators and volunteers in the sport and recreation industry.

The Carer handbook was produced with valuable input from foster and kinship carers, and provides information to assist all carers with the day to day issues they face in caring for children - from health and education matters to decision making, legal issues and emotional well-being. It also details the financial assistance available.

We understand that as a foster carer or kinship carer, your circumstances may change from time to time. You must inform the Department of Child Safety if a significant change in your circumstances has occurred or is expected to occur. This fact sheet addresses; when you should inform the Department of Child Safety of a change in circumstances, how to inform the department of a change in circumstances and what will happen if you do not inform the department of a change in circumstances.

The child health passport records a child's or young person's health information and provides carers with the information they need to meet the child's day-to-day health needs. The passport is to be updated throughout a child's or young person's time in out-of-home care and moves with the child or young person if they change placement.

All adults have a responsibility to protect children from harm. The information contained in this booklet is designed to assist you in making informed decisions to help ensure children are safe. The booklet provides information about child sexual abuse and its impact on a child's or young person's life. It also provides advice on what to do if a child tells you they have been abused or if you suspect that a child has been sexually abused.

The Community Housing Information Bulletin is produced by Housing and Homelessness Services for community housing organisations.

This information is relevant if you are a birth parent considering adoption for your child. Adoption transfers the legal rights and responsibilities of parenthood from the child's birth parents to their adoptive parents. The department's Adoption Services Queensland Unit can provide information to help parents make an informed decision about whether adoption is the best option for securing future care for their child.

In your role as a foster carer or kinship carer you are responsible for many decisions regarding the child or young person placed with you. It can be difficult to know where these decision-making responsibilities begin and end. This fact sheet provides a general guide about who is responsible for particular decisions on topics ranging from medical, educational, sporting and recreational activities, culture and religion, travel, behaviour management, family contact and counselling, and personal appearance.

Children and young people in out-of-home care often have unique educational needs, and meeting these needs requires planning and support. An education support plan is developed in collaboration between our department and the Department of Education, Training and the Arts, for all children on a child protection order granting custody or guardianship to the Department of Child Safety. This fact sheet looks at what is involved with an educational support plan, when it is developed, what are the department's responsibilities and what the carer's role is.

Continued contact with their biological families is fundamental to children and young people in maintaining a sense of self-value and identity. It has significant effects on the emotional and physical development of children and young people and can help them deal with the grief and loss they experience when they leave their family and enter out-of-home care. This fact sheet discusses the benefits of maintained family contact, the department's responsibilities, the role of the foster carers, how to maintain family contact and how to handle difficulties.

This fact sheet outlines the carer qualities and abilities that a good foster or kinship carer brings to the role and the rewards and challenges of foster and kinship care.

Foster and kinship carers can be an individual, couples or even a team of adults. All sorts of people of different ages, backgrounds and family circumstances are foster carers. With this in mind there are a number of roles within foster and kinship care for consideration, this fact sheet addresses the different types of care, including; support care, emergency care, short-term care, long-term care and specialist care.

Find out about the aims and locations and how to register for this free training for teachers, school sport volunteers and students that can lead to coaching, officiating, inclusive sport, sports trainer and sports first aid accreditation.

This fact sheet discusses; what is a kinship carer, what allowances are available, how to become a kinship carer, training required, support received, what you will need to do and how to obtain more information.

There is a real need for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to become foster and kinship carers for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. This fact sheet outlines; what is foster, kinship and support care, what financial allowances are available, who can be a foster or kinship carer, how to become a foster or kinship carer, how carers are supported and who to contact for more information.

Whether you are an experienced carer or new to the role, everyone can benefit from learning more about being a carer. This fact sheet discusses the benefits of informal and formal training and the different training requirements for foster carers and kinship carers.

A booklet for parents, teachers and early childhood carers that includes games and activities to help preschoolers 'get active'.

The 'Locker Room' is an educational forum about exchanging ideas and sharing knowledge. They are held throughout the state and provide an opportunity for those involved in sport and recreation at the grassroots level to learn from high-profile coaches, elite athletes, officials and industry professionals.

This manual is a guide to the legal and financial steps for organisations involved in consolidation activities.

The Department of Communities is committed to providing former residents of care institutions with information about themselves and access to their records. This publication is designed to provide information about the records of institutions that have been located to this date.

Our early years are a crucial time to establish a healthy approach to physical activity. If young children are engaged in enjoyable physical activity at an early age, they are more likely to become active teenagers and adults.

This guide has been developed for Service Providers in receipt of grant funding or Individual placement funding from, or licensed by, the department. Service providers should consider the information provided in this guide as reference material and interpret these guidelines in the context of their own environment when developing specific recordkeeping processes.

Partnerships with other governments and the private sector.

Dates for the Professional development workshops for teachers 2010 to be confirmed.

A range of fact sheets for applicants and tenants of department-managed housing.

Recognised Entities are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations or individuals mandated by their communities and approved and funded by the Department of Child Safety to provide cultural and family advice in Indigenous child protection matters. In placing an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child or young person outside of the home, the Department of Child Safety must involve a Recognised Entity to assist decision making in the best interests of the child or young person.

Provides information on key multicultural support services provided by the Department of Communities.

Carers can have a positive impact on a child or young person's life, and can provide the extra support children need in what can be a difficult and confusing time in their lives. To become an approved carer you will need to participate in an assessment process and where relevant, complete pre-service training.

Once you have made the decision that you are interested in being a kinship carer, there are a number of steps you go through to become approved as a kinship carer. This fact sheet outlines the steps to becoming a kinship carer, the approvals and application process and what happens if your application is approved by the department.

The Department of Communities (Disability and Community Care Services) helps people with a disability and their families to access the support and services they need as they move through the different stages of their life. This page outlines the various services provided and funded by the Department of Communities.

Provides information on key support services for seniors to ensure they are valued and active members of their communities.

This fact sheet has testimonials from a foster carer, a support carer, a kinship carer and a young person in care.

A Care Agreement is an agreement between the Department of Child Safety and a parent to place their child or young person This fact sheet addresses the following issues; what rights do parents have if they sign a care agreement, who will care for a child or young person under a care agreement, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, when will the care agreement end and how to obtain more information.

This factsheet details what happens when child safety officers visit your home, what the options are if you do not agree with a decision made by the child safety officers, and who you can talk to for further information.