A Permanent Care Order grants a person (other than a parent or the Secretary) custody and guardianship of a child. This is similar to an adoption, but it does not change the legal parentage of the child.
The court may make a Permanent Care Order if the child's parent has not had care of the child for at least 6 of the last 12 months, and it is satisfied that:
- the parent is unable or unwilling to resume parental responsibility, or
- it would not be in the child’s best interests for the parent to resume parental responsibility, and that
- the person to assume parental responsibility for the child is a suitable person.
If an Aboriginal child is placed with a non-Aboriginal permanent carer, the court must be sure:
- that there is no suitable Aboriginal permanent carer/s available
- that the order complies with the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle
- it receives a positive report of the proposed permanent care order from an Aboriginal agency (eg. Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency)
- a cultural plan has been prepared.
Whether the proposed carer is Aboriginal or not, an accredited Aboriginal agency:
- must conduct the assessment, or
- be consulted as part of the assessment, and
- must endorse the application in all instances.