Victoria's child protection department is not fully meeting the needs of children in state care, including keeping siblings together, the state auditor found.
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The Victorian Auditor-General's Office audit Out-of-Home Care Services, tabled 3 June 2026, concluded that the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing is not fully meeting Victorian children's needs in out-of-home care and does not always achieve the legislative principles for placements, including keeping siblings together and minimising placement changes. At 30 June 2025, 58.6% of children were placed with all their siblings and 26.1% were completely separated, with higher separation rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children with disability. Active foster carer households fell 18% between 2021 and 2025, Victoria's base carer allowance for children aged 0 to 7 is the lowest in Australia, and the department has longstanding data quality issues. VAGO made 5 recommendations; the department accepted 4 in full and 1 in principle.
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