Improving safety and outcomes for children who go missing from out-of-home care

Improving safety and outcomes for children who go missing from out-of-home care

Thursday 19 November 2026, 12:00pm-1:00pm AEDT, online via Ms Teams

Hosted by Family and Community Services Insights, Analysis and Research (FACSIAR)

Details

Children and young people who go missing from out-of-home care are some of the most vulnerable in Australia. Although this has been a concern for many years, there is limited evidence available to help inform policies and services. As NSW continues to improve its out-of-home care system, more information is needed to better understand the backgrounds, experiences, and support needs of children who go missing from care.

In this FACSIAR Lunch and Learn webinar, Professor Stefanie Schurer and Professor Amy Conley Wright from the University of Sydney will present findings from the first linked, population-scale analysis of children who spent time away from their out-of-home care placements in NSW. Drawing on linked records from the NSW Human Services Dataset, the research examined the prevalence of missing children in out-of-home care placements, the characteristics of children most at risk, and their patterns of contact with government services. The presenters will discuss how the findings can be used to strengthen relationships around vulnerable children, improve placement stability, support integrated service delivery models and the real-time sharing of information across agencies.

Following the presentation, a panel including policy experts and young people with lived experience of out-of-home care will explore practice implications and share real‑world examples to support implementation.

The webinar will be of interest to policymakers, practitioners, service providers, researchers and others working across child protection, out-of-home care and human services.

The session will conclude with a Q&A session with our presenters and panel and the webinar will be chaired by Dr Jessica Stewart, Executive Director, FACSIAR, Department of Communities and Justice.

Presenters

• Dr Stefanie Schurer, Professor of Economics, School of Economics, University of Sydney

• Dr Amy Conley Wright, Professor of Child and Family Social Work, Sydney School of Education and Social Work, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney

Panel

• Catherine Dobbins - Director, Residential out-of-home care, DCJ

• Catherine Keady – Director, Intensive Support Services Metro out-of-home care, DCJ

• Crosbi Knight – Director, Residential Care, Metro out-of-home care, DCJ

• Kyle and Holden – Youth Consult for Change consultants

Automated captioning via MS Teams is available on event day. The session will then be fully captioned and available on YouTube within one week of the live event. A link will be sent to all those who register.

If you have any other accessibility requirements (e.g. Auslan interpreters), please contact us by Thursday 12 November, 2026 at ResearchPartnerships@dcj.nsw.gov.au or 0499 944 905.

Questions or comments?

Contact: ResearchPartnerships@dcj.nsw.gov.au