Private hearings with children and young people

The Advocate for Children and Young People has commenced hearings as part of the Special Inquiry into children and young people placed into alternative care arrangements (often referred to as ACAs or High-Cost Emergency Placements), which includes the use of hotels, motels, caravan parks, serviced apartments and other similar settings as emergency accommodation.

If you are a child or young people who is currently in an alternative care arrangement (ACA), or has previous experience being in an ACA in the past 10 years, we want to hear from you.

The Advocate is speaking with children and young people to hear directly from them about their experiences in ACAs and explore what changes can made to better support them and others in the future.  

Some of the things we are interested in hearing from you about include:

• your treatment and conditions whilst in an ACA (what is it like in an ACA placement?)
• whether you feel/felt safe and supported?
• your understanding of why you are/were placed in an ACA?
• length of time you live/ lived or stayed at an ACA placement?
• the number of times you have stayed/ lived in an ACA placement?
• the people who help/ helped you
• the contact you have with your family
• your school and education
• your health and wellbeing
• whether you felt listened to and heard
• anything else you wish to share.