On 1 July 2024, new laws came in that give the Commission for Children and Young People (the Commission) more powers to support children and young people who are in contact with the child protection or out-of-home care system.
These new powers allow us to ask for assistance, documents and other important information from the organisations that work with children and young people across Victoria to make sure children and young people’s concerns about their care are heard and acted on.
The new powers are in place to make sure children and young people have someone independent (not from Child Protection) who can:
- give them advice and information
- help with problems a child or young person might have with their care
- speak up for the safety, wellbeing, and rights of children and young people in contact with child protection and out-of-home care services.
We can request information from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) (which was previously known as DHS or DHHS), out-of-home care services and other organisations that work with children and young people.
The government has not given us funding to do this new job, which means we do not have the people or resources we need to help everyone who needs it.
We continue to seek more funding, so we can help more children and young people in need. We appreciate your patience as we try to support as many children and young people as we can.