The child protection and out-of-home care system (‘the system‘) understandably focuses on preventing harm and ensuring safety. A reductive focus on these aims has had profound unintended consequences. This report articulates concrete steps to advance a course change on child protection in NSW. It outlines 11 key opportunities to focus the system on the holistic needs of children and towards empowering families and communities through a relational approach to care. It identifies key areas for action, including legal, regulatory, policy and frontline reforms that put people first and build their capabilities.

A relational approach creates the conditions for families to develop their capabilities and take charge of their own lives. It focuses on human-centric practices that emphasise listening and developing trust, and provide trauma-informed, tailored and holistic care to children and their families as agents of change.

The pathway to a truly relational child and family system is conceptually simple but requires a multidimensional agenda – and a new narrative – to drive it forward. It requires a new story to be developed in partnership with the community and told consistently by the NSW Government. This could be encoded in a new social compact that creates unity behind a new vision – one oriented toward wellbeing, connection and flourishing families – and a concrete mission.

This report is the culmination of a project undertaken in close collaboration with the NSW Department of Communities and Justice and the Centre for Relational Car