Stability Act
The Stability Act will better support children, young people and families to keep them together whenever it is safe to do so.
The amendments aim to support the government and community service providers that work to keep children and young people safe and to strengthen families.
The default commencement date for the Stability Act is Tuesday 1 September 2026.
The Stability Act will:
provide the Children’s Court with greater discretion and flexibility when making Family Reunification Orders. This will enable families to be reunified where it is in the child or young person’s best interests
remove adoption as a case plan goal
replace the term ‘permanency’ with ‘stability’ and provide a more holistic understanding of stability. This will make clear that stability has multiple dimensions. This includes stability in the child or young person's care, physical stability, cultural stability and relational stability.
Supporting Stable and Strong Families (SSSF) Act
The SSSF Act introduces a new model of shared responsibilities across the Victorian Government to improve outcomes for at-risk children, young people and families.
Child protection and family services should not operate in isolation from other systems. All of government has a role to play in supporting at-risk children. This Act will further prioritise cooperation across government.
The default commencement date for the SSSF Act is Wednesday 30 September 2026.
The first SSSF plans will be prepared within the first 12 months from the commencement date.
The SSSF Act will:
help to ensure at-risk children, young people and families receive more comprehensive supports when and where they need it
support reunification to happen sooner through improved access and timeliness of support services, where this is in the child or young person’s best interests
drive action across the Victorian Government to support prevention and early intervention.
The Act is informed by the successful Corporate Parent model in Scotland. It will complement the Stability Act.
Independent reviews
The Acts each require an independent review to take place after they have been in force for 5 years. This will ensure there is an independent and transparent process to consider the impact of these reforms.
The department will monitor cases to assess the impact of the changes and enable government to identify and respond to issues ahead of the independent review process.
Next steps
The department will keep stakeholders updated on the next steps for implementation ahead of the commencement dates.