Education Support for Children in Care and Kinship Care in South Australia

Children in foster and kinship care in South Australia often arrive at school carrying histories that their teachers don't know, haven't been briefed on, and are not equipped to support. The disability rates among children in out-of-home care are significantly higher than the general population. So is school instability — multiple placements mean multiple school transitions, fragmented educational records, and support plans that restart from scratch every time.

If you are a foster carer, kinship carer, or guardian of a child in out-of-home care in South Australia, understanding the specific education entitlements that apply — beyond the general disability framework — can make an immediate practical difference.

The Mandatory One Plan for Children in Care

In South Australia, a One Plan is mandatory for every student in out-of-home care — regardless of whether that child has a formally diagnosed disability. This is not a discretionary school decision. The Department for Education requires it.

This is significant because many children in care who are struggling educationally have not received a formal disability diagnosis. Complex trauma, developmental delays, Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), attachment difficulties, and the cognitive impacts of early neglect may not have been formally assessed. The mandatory One Plan for children in care provides a planning and support framework even before a diagnosis is established.

The One Plan for a child in care should document:

• The child's current educational baseline and learning priorities
• Any known external services or NDIS supports being received
• Curriculum adjustments addressing the child's functional needs
• Stability and transition planning if placement changes are anticipated
• Communication protocols between the school, the Department for Child Protection, and the carer

What the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 Adds

The Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 (SA) intersects directly with education where a school's failure to provide appropriate support reaches the threshold of harming a child's wellbeing.

Where a school is failing to protect a child from significant bullying, failing to provide a psychologically safe environment, or using restrictive practices without lawful justification — these failures can be framed within the broader child protection obligation framework. Educational deprivation itself, when it results from systemic neglect of a vulnerable child's needs, is a child wellbeing issue.

This does not mean filing a child protection report against a school. It means that carers who are also advocating for children with disability can draw on the language of child safety and wellbeing in addition to disability rights language — particularly when a child's school refusal, anxiety, or regression is directly linked to an unsupportive school environment.

Education Stability: The Carer's Role

Children in care experience substantially higher rates of school absence and educational disruption than the general student population. Each school transition loses educational ground. Each new school means a new One Plan meeting, a new set of teachers to brief, and often a delay before any adjustments are actually in place.

As a carer or kinship carer, you have the same rights as a parent in One Plan meetings — you can attend, request consultation, and dispute goals or adjustments that are inadequate. In SA, carers are specifically identified as having information sharing rights with the Department for Education under the care framework, which means schools should be proactively briefing you on the child's educational situation, not waiting for you to ask.

If a new school is not convening a One Plan meeting promptly after a child with disability or care needs enrols, write to the principal requesting one within two weeks of enrolment. Cite both the general DSE obligation to consult and the mandatory One Plan requirement for children in out-of-home care.

The NDIS and School-Based Support

Many children in SA out-of-home care have NDIS plans. The intersection of NDIS-funded supports and school-based adjustments is a common friction point: schools sometimes refuse to allow NDIS-funded therapists on-site, or fail to coordinate therapy goals with One Plan goals.

Schools have a legal obligation under the DSE to make reasonable adjustments. An NDIS-funded speech pathologist providing school-based support is directly relevant to meeting that obligation. Schools cannot arbitrarily exclude NDIS therapists from school grounds; they must have a legitimate reason. If a school is blocking NDIS-funded support that would directly benefit the child's educational participation, that refusal should be challenged in writing.

Ask for the school's written policy on NDIS provider access, and request that NDIS therapy goals be explicitly referenced in the One Plan so that school staff and external providers are working from the same framework.

Wait Times and How to Work Around Them

Children in care who have not been formally assessed for disability face the same wait time problem as all SA families: 38% of students in SA wait more than six months for a Departmental educational psychologist, and some wait up to two years. For a child in care, this delay can mean years of disrupted education without a formal diagnosis to trigger higher-level IESP funding.

Carers should consider using the child's NDIS plan or a Chronic Disease Management plan under Medicare to fund a private psychological or paediatric assessment. A private report confirming cognitive or developmental needs — combined with the mandatory One Plan for children in care — is sufficient to demand adjustments from the school. You do not need to wait for a Departmental assessment before requesting that the school act.

If the cost of private assessment is a barrier, contact DACSSA (Disability Advocacy and Complaints Service of SA) or ADAI (Advocacy for Disability Access and Inclusion). Both organisations have experience with the specific pressures facing families of children in out-of-home care. ADAI also operates outreach clinics in regional SA — Mount Gambier, Port Augusta, Berri, Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln, and the Yorke Peninsula — which is relevant given the geographic spread of kinship care placements across the state.

Making the Most of Stability

Children in care are more likely to benefit from a school that knows them well, maintains a consistent SSO, and implements a One Plan that is genuinely reviewed termly rather than annually. Carer advocacy that focuses on stability — resisting unnecessary transitions, maintaining continuity of support staff, and demanding prompt One Plan reviews when something changes — can have a significant cumulative effect on educational outcomes.

The South Australia Disability Advocacy Playbook includes guidance and letter templates relevant to children in care, including requests for One Plan meetings following school transitions and strategies for coordinating NDIS and school-based support.

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